The Bet
by Kristine93
Summary: FINISHED! Matsumoto makes a bet. She can make any man fall in love with her in one month time, right? Even her little taicho... And what happens when he finds out about the bet... Better that it sounds.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach**

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Matsumoto sighed softly and gently brushed a silver lock away from his eyes to reveal the beauty of his calm features. She couldn't help it but adore the way he looked when he slept… It was a rare sight to witness the lack of a stressed expression on his face… Which was such a terrible pity… since she couldn't remember ever seeing anything that touched her that deeply…

_How will you react…? _she bit her lower lip as the disturbing thought entered her mind yet once again. Rangiku let out another sigh and leaned forward placing a loving kiss on his cold forehead. She feared it could be the last kiss she gave him…

Hitsugaya slightly shifted, burying his face deeper into the pillow and a small smile appeared on his lips. Matsumoto watched him for few more seconds, then carefully got out of the bed. She didn't bother dressing, just silently walked out of the bedroom. Bare-footed and wearing only a pale-pink nightgown she entered the small living-room and sat on the couch, tucking her legs beneath her. Her eyes fell on the object in her hand.

_How did I get myself into this mess…? _She bit thumb-nail as she remembered how it had begun _Oh yeah… It all started with few drinks…_

Flashback

**Matsumoto hiccupped as she almost tripped over her own feet and continued reeling down the dark street along with Kira, Hisagi and Ikkaku. They were going back home after another one of their 'binges', their minds blurry from the huge amount of alcohol they had engulfed.**

**'I want to play a game!' Rangiku groaned, catching up with Ikkaku who had Kira's hand over his shoulders and was almost dragging the half-dead blond. Hisagi redirected his hazy eyes to her bored expression.**

**'What kind of game?' he asked, then lifted his hand with a half-empty bottle in it and poured some of the content into his mouth.**

**'OOH! I know! Let's see who can count all the ants we see on out way home!' Rangiku cheered almost making Hisagi swallow the bottle.**

**'That's soooooooooo…what's the word?… lame.' Ikkaku announced and Kira agreed with a low groan.**

**'Then… how about we go hit on somebody?' Matsumoto offered before she slipped and fell on her back.**

**'Do you think that we'll look attractive to anyone in our current state?' Hisagi sadly shook the almost empty bottle 'I think… not…'**

**'Bullshit!' Rangiku sat up, looking like she had some ants spinning around her head 'I… I can make anyone fall in love with me… anytime… I'll willingly run naked around the whole Sereitei if I'm wrong…'**

**Hisagi and Ikkaku exchanged sly drunken looks.**

**'Anyone?' they repeated in unison.**

**'You bet!' with that she managed to stand up.**

**'Ok, then… We'll pick you somebody, ANYBODY and if you make him fall in love with you in a month, we'll buy you your drinks for three months.' Ikakku announced, suddenly looking very sober. Matsumoto's face lit up at the thought of free drinks for such a long time.**

**'If you can't do it… you'll have to run naked around the whole Sereitei!' Hisagi added with a very wily smile on his lips.**

**'I agreeeeeeeeeee!' Matsumoto shouted, free drinks being the only thing she could think about at that moment.**

**'Wonderful!' Ikakku let Kira's limp body fall on the ground and walked to Hisagi. For few moments they discussed something quietly. When they were done they turned to Matsumoto.**

**'We decided who's going to be the lucky guy!' Ikakku grinned 'The winner is… Hitsugaya-taicho!'**

End of flashback.

Matsumoto sighed as she looked at the tape-recorder in her hands.

The morning after she had made the bet she had woken up and realized what she had agreed to. She had immediately tried to cancel the bet, but Hisagi and Ikakku had objected. They told her the three of them had made a deal, period. She hadn't been able to do anything against that. It would've ruined her reputation as a woman of honor that always fulfilled her promises.

At the beginning she had thought about the possibility of actually admitting that she wasn't able to make any man fall in love with her and just do whatever she had to do in that case. But being the shy person she was, she really didn't want to run naked around Sereitei. So she had gathered all her courage and had begun her mission. For her surprise it hadn't been hard to make the diminutive taicho fall in love with her. She even had wondered whether he had had some feeling for her before that…

The hard part had been to make him relax and spend some time with her. But then everything had gone smoothly. She had managed to make him laugh, smile and blush umpteen times. And somehow in the end a month had happened to be more than enough…

But right now Matsumoto wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to break his heart; she didn't want to hurt him… And that was exactly what was going to happen if she told him about the bet.

Rangiku frowned. Maybe that was it. She simply wouldn't tell him. Though… she really suspected some of her friends could just blurt out the truth. And the gossip-factor… Somehow when something more dramatic happened, everybody in Sereitei found out about it. It was really troublesome to keep your personal life to yourself.

Matsumoto sighed. She didn't have a choice. She just had to threaten everybody that if they opened their mouths she would kill them and make sure her little Shiro lived in pleasant ignorance. Period.

She reached for the phone and picked up the receiver. Few seconds after dialing the number Ikakku answered.

'Rangiku!' he cheered 'Are you ready to show your naked beauty to the world? It's the last day, remember?'

'Yes, I remember.' Matsumoto smirked 'And I've got little Shiro's confession of love right here, recorded.'

There was silence for a couple of seconds. Rangiku waited patiently. After all, her bald buddy needed some time to comprehend the new information.

'SAY WHAT!' he shouted 'I want to hear it!'

Rangiku lifted the tape-recorder near the receiver and turned it on. There was some noise in the beginning, which was probably the sound of a nervous Rangiku placing the recorder on a proper place. Then there was a knock. A sound of door, being opened…

_'Um… Hi.' _Came Hitsugaya's voice.

_'Hello, taicho!' _sound of Matsumoto closing the door behind the boy. '_You sounded strange on the phone. What is it that you wanted to tell me in personal?_'

Rangiku remembered his stressed expression and the way he wouldn't stop biting his lower lip every few seconds or so.

_'Yes, well… You see… I…' _a sigh, then his voice became softer '_You better sit down._'

She remembered doing so, though she never broke the eye contact.

'_Am I fired?_' Mastumoto's voice asked. The question was followed by Hitsugaya's low chuckle.

'_No, no, of course not!_'

'_Then what is it?_'

Pause. Then Hitsugaya spoke once again, softly and uncertainly.

'_You're a very special woman, Matsumoto Rangiku. You're intelligent, skilled and beautiful. No normal man can stay indifferent to you. Indifferent to the way you smile, the way you laugh, indifferent to your voice and the way you move… And so, I'm no exception._' There was a pause, then the sound of him taking a deep breath '_During the last month my simple attraction to you grew into something more. It turned into a feeling I never felt before. And I spend lots of time thinking what that feeling was. It was a mix of many other emotions and it was… so powerful it was almost scary. It was happiness and sadness at the same time, it was torn between admiration and confusion… desire, longing, tenderness, helplessness, pain and more. So much more. My heart was ripping apart when I couldn't see you and it was aching so hard when you were near and I couldn't touch you… And… What I mean to say is…_' pause '_That I love you. I love you with all my heart._'

Matsumoto's gasp was heard. She remembered how Hitsugaya's face had softened as he had shaken his head and smiled sadly.

'_I don't expect you to return my feelings. Please don't feel responsible to do so. But I needed to tell you this. It was something I couldn't bear to keep in myself anymore. I beg you, don't let this conversation ruin our friendship. I…_' at that point Matsumoto had had grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her, their lips meeting for a first time. He had been stunned at first, not being able to move at all, but then relaxed and let her pull him into her lap and slid her tongue into his mouth. The kiss had been gentle and slow; she had been afraid she would scare him off if she had gone too fast for him to handle.

After that it hadn't been too hard to convince him to stay with her for the night. They had kissed and talked the whole evening, then she had made him sleep in her bed. She had teased him until he had finally agreed and then she had gotten her dream come true – she had finally been able to actually cuddle him.

'Oh my GOD! I can't believe he actually said that!' Ikakku exclaimed.

'I want you to promise not to tell anyone about the bet!' Matsumoto said as she turned off the tape-recorder.

'Why not?' Ikakku asked.

'Because I don't want you to! Period!' Matsumoto growled 'Nobody needs to know.'

'Are you kiddin' me? Hitsugaya confessing his love to his fukutaicho in such way!' He giggled 'Scandalous!'

'Ikakku!'

'Why are you so worried about this? You don't have a crush on the little blizzard, do you?'

At that point Matsumoto got really angry.

'LISTEN TO ME BALDY! IT WAS JUST A STUPID BET! I SAID I CAN MAKE ANYONE FALL IN LOVE WITH ME AND I DID IT! I MADE MY TAICHO FALL IN LOVE WITH ME AND RECORDED HIS CONFESSION TO PROVE IT! YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED, I WON THE BET AND NOW IF YOU EVER DARE TO TE-' Matsumoto stopped mid-sentence as she suddenly noticed a small figure standing near the door. Her heart missed a beat as she found herself staring into a pair of shocked jade eyes.

'Oh God…' she whispered 'How much did you hear?'

'Enough.' Hitsugaya answered, his voice almost a whisper 'So… this was all actually… a bet, huh? You planned it…'

'I-it's not what it looks like.' Matsumoto stammered as she managed to stand up. Hitsugaya's eyes suddenly became angry.

'I'm sure it's not.' He answered, his cold voice making her shiver. He turned around and disappeared into the bedroom. Matsumoto hurried after him. He was gathering his things and when she tried to place her hand on his shoulder, he pulled away and glared at her – his big jade eyes filled with hurt.

'Don't touch me!' he snapped and hurried pass her, wearing only his trousers and the captain haori. 'I'm such an idiot... Thinking that someone like_ you_ may actually have some feelings for someone like_ me_...'

'Toushiro, please, just listen to me!' Matsumoto pleaded as he walked out of the apartment. Hitsugaya turned around to face her.

'Don't call me by my first name! I'm your taicho, so address me properly.' His cold angry voice was trembling and his shoulders were contracted.

'Hear me out!'

'Save it. I don't care.' He pursed his lips and turned around.

'No wait, I need to tell you…' she started but it was too late. He had shunpoed away.

'…I love you…' she finished, staring at the spot where he had been standing moments ago.

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Ok, so this is actually going to be a two-shot. One more chapter. I hope you liked this one, please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I just had my heart being broken yesterday, so I guess I was in the best mood to write something like this. It might be not very good, for which I deeply apologize.**

**I need a Japanese name of a man for the next chapters. I need it for a big, strong Zaraki-type man, only not really nice. I'm ot very good with Japanese names so if you don't help, I'll be forced to use an English/Bulgarian one, which I don't think will sound very well...**

**And one more thing: I decided to extend the story since more than three people asked me to (five, I think) but it's still not going to be very long. **

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'Rangiku, open up!' Ikakku shouted, knocking on her door for a hundredth time. And, just as every time before that, she didn't listen to him. He sighed glancing at Hisagi desperately. Shuhei just shrugged, not really knowing what to do.

'Maybe we should go find Hitsugaya-taicho?' Kira suggested carefully, but got just an annoyed snort in retort as Ikkaku rolled his eyes and bent down to try to look through the keyhole.

'It's not like he can do _anything_! He's just… you know… Shorty-blizzard.' the bald shinigami murmured. Kira just frowned and folded his arms in front of his chest.

After a few fruitless minutes of trying to see something through the keyhole from different angles, Ikkaku finally gave up and once more started to knock on the door and plead Matsumoto to open it. This happened to end with the same successes, so thirty seconds later Hisagi finally got irritated and pushed his friend aside.

'Rangiku!' he shouted 'Come out of there already! We'll take you somewhere to have a drink and relax, ok?'

'This isn't going to work…' Kira murmured under his breath. However from the other side of the door, footsteps were heard and a moment later Matsumoto opened the door. Hisagi grinned happily, missing her grim expression and exclaimed:

'That's my girl! Now let's…'

SLAP!

A very angry Matsumoto let her hand drop at her side as she glared at the stunned Hisagi with the large red handprint on his cheek.

'Rangiku…' Ikkaku begun, his shocked eyes shifting from her to Shuhei and back.

'You… 'she begun, breath coming out on sharp gasps and her beautiful blue eyes watering 'You made me sell Toushiro for a few drinks!'

'Did you just called him _Toushiro_??' Ikkaku exclaimed, his face twisting into an odd grimace. Matsumoto just redirected her glare to him, making him shrink and step back.

'So… You really are going to hide all day long?' Kira suddenly interfered.

'I'm not… hiding!' Rangiku growled. In return the blond guy rolled his eyes.

'Well, it seems like hiding to me.' Kira absently ran his hand through his hair 'If I were you, I would hurry to explain to him…'

'What? You think I didn't try to explain?' she snapped angrily. Kira just shrugged.

'Maybe you didn't try hard enough.'

Matsumoto narrowed her eyes and was about to something snap at him, but was cut off when Ikkaku shouted:

'Hey, look! A hell butterfly!'

* * *

Matsumoto was definitely not in the mood to go on meeting. She had a terrible headache and she had an odd disturbing feeling in her stomach. The feeling she hated the most…

_Guilt._

She couldn't get rid of the image of his eyes. His big jade eyes, so betrayed, filled with so much hurt… They were following her around, burning her insides, reminding her of what she had done…

She had to fix this. She had to. She couldn't just leave it behind like a minor event, because for onece she knew for sure – this was not just a simple crush, it wasn't about to go away. It was something more. It was a deep, strong feeling that was affecting her whole body – and mostly her heart. And as much as it had been beautiful and wonderful before, it was painful now…

... Rangiku loved him. She loved him more than everything. More than she had ever assumed she'd be able to. More than herself, more than her life. And she was ready to do everything to get him back.

'Late again Matsumoto.' Kyouraku whispered to her with a small smirk as she sneaked in the room and stood next to him.

'What's the meeting about?' she absently asked while her eyes searched for Hitsugaya. Kyouraku shrugged in return.

'Boring stuff… You know…'

_Where is he? _She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and scanned the faces one by one, wondering why wasn't there a serious silver-haired taicho among them.

'…Organization… blah-blah-blah… Oh yeah! And…'

_Aha! There you are! How could I not notice you! Standing right there… next to… Hinamori?_ Matsumoto's eyes widened with displeasure and annoyance. Oh, yes -_Momo_. Hitsugaya's childhood friend. For too long people told gossips about her and Toushiro. For too long they twisted every minor detail of their behavior to create some strange, ridicules stories without actual reason. Tons and tons of gossips, relating with different words the same thing – that she was the one he had given his heart to…

'… They say Hinamori can't handle the division by herself, so they're searching for a new captain for her. So… yeah, mostly that. We're discussing some candidates for the job. You don't need to listen…'

_Why are they standing so close?_

Growling under her breath, Matsumoto felt the sudden urge to go grab Momo's ridicules bun and pull her outside by it... What she wished to do next was a thought filled with violence and many screams and blood…

'…and yeah… stuff like this. Are you listening? Obviously not. Too busy killing Hinamori with our eyes, aren't we?'

Matsumoto snapped out of her thoughts to shoot Kyoraru a very annoyed glance, then returned to her previous occupations. Well, almost… Now, she was looking at Hitsugaya.

The young taicho looked different. She couldn't meet his eyes, but she could see enough of him to judge. His thin figure looked somehow even smaller than usual. She couldn't exactly say why but in some way his captain haori looked loosen and too big for him, his shoulders were drooped and his tired half-closed eyes were concentrated on some spot on the floor. His eyes… his eyes weren't alive and on alert as usually. There was some spark missing in them… and they looked so empty, so sad, so hurt, so… betrayed…

Rangiku examined his pale face with growing worry and bit her lower lip. He looked sick. He looked fatigued and unable to work… What WAS he doing here in such state?!

'Hitsugaya-taicho? Are you feeling alright?' Matsumoto heard Unohana asking. Toushiro sighed and a small smile appeared on his lips.

'How many times are you going to ask me that?' he said. Matsumoto was rather surprised to hear his firm and certain voice, so inconsistent with his appearance.

'Maybe you should come with me after the meeting?' Unohana suggested, her calm eyes examining him with a hint of sincere worry.

'Naaaah! I'm fine.' He assured her, waving his hand dismissively. Unohana didn't look very pleased with the answer but simply nodded, guided by some strange intuition that told her not to bring up the subject anymore.

Matsumoto spent the rest of the meeting in pathetic attempts to meet Hitsugaya's eyes or speak to him. But he never looked at her. And he never paid attention to her words. As if he was trying to imagine she didn't exist, that she wasn't there… That she had never been…

Rangiku didn't hear anything of what was discussed at the meeting. She had been too occupied with other things, so when the meeting was suddenly over, she was caught completely off guard. She tried to catch up with Hitsugaya as everybody left the room but just as her fingers were about to reach his shoulder from behind, he shunpoed.

'Damn…' she murmured, letting her hand drop, still satring at the empty space where he had been standing a moment ago. She knew for sure that Hitsugaya didn't like shunpoing. He preferred walking. And if he shunpoed that meant that he was tired, depressed, sick or everything altogether. Which was definitely not a good thing…

'Are you ok?' Kyouraku asked carefully as he approached her 'Did something happen between you and your lil captain? You were staring at him during the whole meeting.'

Matsumoto sighed and shook her head.

'It doesn't matter…' she softly said while slowly making her way to her apartment 'I'll to him tomorrow… when I go to the office… I still have some sort of day off today…'

Kyoraru nodded and waved her goodbye, before turning around and heading to the opposite direction…

* * *

The next morning Matsumoto woke up from a knock on the door. She sleepily got up and went to open it. In front of her stood a very embarrassed Ikkaku with a cup of hot smoking coffee in his hand.

'Good morning.' He greeted carefully 'I brought you some coffee.'

Matsumoto gratefully took the cup and leaned against the door-frame.

'What is it?' she asked sleepily, before having a sip from the coffee.

'I just…' the bald shinigami scratched the back of his head 'Kira kind of explained everything to me… No idea how he found out, but anyway… So, I just wanted to…' he paused '…apologize… I guess.'

Matsumoto sighed and took another thoughtful sip from the coffee.

'Apologizing won't help much, but I accept yours anyway. Besides…' she ran a hand through her disheveled hair '… It was mostly my fault… And only I can fix everything…'

Ikkaku stood silent for a couple of seconds, not really knowing what to say, then suddenly remembered something and started rummaging his clothes.

'On my way here I met Yamamato. He asked me to bring you something… he said it was important for you to read it right away… Now… Where is it… Where is it… AHA!' he triumphantly handed her a piece of folded paper. Matsumoto rolled her eyes as she absently took it and opened it.

'I hope it's nothing too urgent, I really don't want to lose any time in stupid meetings, where all I do is to nod from time to time…' her eyes half-closed lazily shifted from side to side as she read the content of the letter 'I'm going straight into the office and I'm not going to leave taicho alone until… what the hell?'

'What's wrong?' Ikkaku asked worriedly as he watched Rangiku's expression change from sleepy and regardless to a pure horror.

'WHAT THE HELL??' shouted again and her eyes winded 'This… this can't be true…'

'Rangiku, what's going on?' Ikkaku insisted as he watched her face become paler with every passing second.

'I-I need to go… right now…' she suddenly exclaimed before storming back inside her apartment'Thanks for the coffee!'


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ATTENTION PLEASE! Ok. Now, I decided to name the character Takeo Kenji, but I'm not sure whether you can name somebody that way, so if you know, tell me, I can still change it. And thanks for all the people who left me suggestions for a name. I really appreciate that! Also, guys, you're the best! Thanks a lot for the reviews! I really hope you like this chapter. It's a little short, but it's because I want it to end on a particular moment. So don't hate me.**

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Matsumoto stormed out of her apartment and pass Ikkaku, determined to reach her aim as soon as possible. She was holding the piece of paper in her hand, squeezing it so tightly that it looked like someone had chewed on it. 

_Oh, please God, it must be a mistake…_

She was in front of the office in no time. The door was unlocked, but that was nothing unusual. Hitsugaya always came to work before her. She took a deep breath in a brave attempt to regain her composure and pushed the door open.

'Good morning, Matsumoto.' came a low indifferent voice as Hitusgaya gathered his things from the desk and put them in a large cardboard box that lied in his feet. He then pulled the first drawer and started rummaging, the fukutaicho's eyes following every each one of his movements with growing horror.

'So… It's true…' she managed to say after a few seconds 'You really are transferred to the fifth division.'

'Yes, I'm afraid I'm not your captain anymore.' He answered, calmly moving to the next drawer without even glancing at her 'I talked with general Yamamato. I asked him to let me be Hinamori's new captain and employ somebody on my place. We both agree that it's better for Momo to work for a person she knows. You know… after what happened with Aizen…'

'But you're leaving ME!' Matsumoto pointed out, slightly narrowing her eyes.

'Yes, well…' Hitsugaya lifted his gaze and redirected it to the window 'Momo needs me more than you need me. So… I guess you'll just have to deal with the new captain…'

'This is ridicules! Your transfer has nothing to do with Hinamori.' Matsumoto said, putting her hand on her hip. Hitsugaya let out an almost imperceptible sigh.

'Is there anything I can do or say to convince you that the world isn't spinning around you!?' he snapped, surprising her a little.

'Is there anything I can do or say to convince you that Hinamori isn't the only one who needs you?' Matsumoto gazed at him expectantly, but all she got was a small snort. She let out a weary sigh, before continuing '_I_ need you. I need you around me. You are my _taicho_! I like working for you! Please, don't go, Toushiro! I l-'

She was suddenly cut off when he slammed his fist on the desk, making her and it jump a few centimeters in the air.

'ADDRESS ME PROPERLY, LIEUTANANT!' Hitusgaya yelled, his enrage teal eyes meeting hers for a first time since he had left her apartment 'FOR GOD'S SAKE, YES, THIS IS'N ABOUT HINAMORI, THIS IS ABOUT YOU AND ME AND WHAT HAPPENED! BUT THAT DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING! I CAN'T WORK WITH YOU ANYMORE, MATSUMOTO! I JUST CAN'T! AND YOU'LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!'

'WHY CAN'T WE WORK TOGETHER?' Matsumoto yelled back, clenching her fists 'IF YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME…'

'WHAT? What is going to change?' he let out a dry laughter 'You still made a fun of me. The poor naïve juvenile captain that fell head over heels in love with his fukutaicho… The perfect story for entertainment.' Hitsugaya's features softened and after a short pause he added much more quietly 'My transferring is for the best, Matsumoto. You have to understand…'

'Understand? Understand WHAT exactly? This makes no sense at all! We should just sit down and discu-'

'Understand that I have no other choice!' Hitsugaya sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before adding 'I don't trust you anymore.'

The last state left Matsumoto speechless. She just stood there, her shocked pale blue eyes staring into his teal ones… His gorgeous orbs, filled with hurt, anger, sadness and disappointment… She felt her heart sink. She was the one who caused him all this. It was her fault... it was happening because of her...

_I don't trust you anymore._

His words repeated in her head again and again, making it harder to breath.

_I betrayed him… it's only natural that he isn't trusting me anymore…_

She swallowed hard, not daring to look away, even though his eyes only made her feel guiltier. Hitsugaya stared at her for a couple of more seconds before sighing yet once again, bending and picking up the cardboard box.

'I can't work with a lieutenant I do not trust… I'm sorry. I hope you'll get along with your new captain.' He softly said, looking down at his things. He then lifted his gaze and looked around the room. Not because he searched for something he had forgotten, but because there were so many memories within these four walls. The ghosts of those memories were laughing, crying, yelling, ruining paperwork and daydreaming… He could hear the echo of the voices, the sobs and the giggles all around him, calling him, chasing him, gently brushing against his skin, leaving goosebumps... He felt a small smile appear on his lips. So many things had happened in this office… Including the first time he had met Matsumoto Rangiku – an amazing, intelligent, smart and beautiful woman… he would never forget that day…

'Take care, Matsumoto.' Hitsugaya said, his eyes meeting hers once again. He then made his way pass her and towards the opened door. He was only a step or two away from it, when a hand suddenly clenched his arm. Toushiro raised his eyebrows and looked up at Matsumoto who was gazing at him with a determined expression on her beautiful face. The boy opened his mouth to say something, but she placed a finger on his lips to keep him silent.

'Why won't you listen to me, Toushiro?' she asked softly, leaning a little so their faces where inches away from each other 'Don't you want to forgive me?'

She was so close… too close… His eyes drifted to her beautiful rose lips and he swallowed hard. He wanted to kiss her so badly… but how could he after what happened…

'It's not that…' he whispered, his eyes now visibly locked on her mouth 'It's just that… I…'

Matsumoto leaned a bit more, their noses almost touching.

'I wanted to tell you for quite some time now…' she begun 'I lo-'

'What's going on in here?' a rough voice asked and Hitsugaya immediately snapped back to reality and pulled away from her grip. On the doorsteps there stood large muscular man with black eyes and messy red hair. He was so tall that his head almost hit the top of the door-frame and his thin lips and square face made him look like a rude colonel that couldn't wait to eat you for breakfast.

'Takeo-taicho.' Hitsugaya said, quickly regaining his composure and greeting the man with a small nod. The red-head nodded in return before redirecting his eyes to Matsumoto, who just stood there, not knowing what exactly to do.

'Are you Matsumoto Rangiku?' he asked carefully, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms in front of his giant chest.

'Who are you?' the woman asked, a bit too sharply. Hitsugaya sighed wearily.

'Matsumoto-fukutaicho, meet your new captain – Takeo Kenji.' The boy announced, looking in some spot far away from the horizon behind Takeo's back as he did so. Just then the woman noticed the captain haori that looked a bit odd on the giant.

'Oh.' She managed to say, blinking a few times, while examining the man 'Gee, you're one hell of a mountain.'

Takeo let out an odd wheezy sound that was probably his laughter and shook his head.

'Will definitely have to work on your manners, Barbie, that's for sure.' He said.

Hitsugaya cleared his throat to remind the others of his existence, then said a dry goodbye to the both without looking at his former vice-captain and shunpoed to his new office, leaving them on their own.

'Ok, Barbie…' Takeo begun after closing the door behind him and walking inside the office to look around 'Here's the deal – you do whatever I tell you to do and everything will go smoothly. Otherwise…' he looked at her with a strange spark in his black eyes 'You'll be in one hell of a trouble.'

Matsumoto narrowed her eyes a little. She knew this man for about a minute or so and she already knew she didn't like him even the slightest bit.


	4. Chapter 4

After shinpoing away from his now former office, Hitsugaya found himself near the fifth division, with the cardboard box in his hands. He looked around to see if there was somebody nearby and after making sure he was all alone, leaned against a wall. He squeezed his eyes shut, letting his a deep sigh escape his lips. God, he hated his life…

Just a few days ago he had been in love with the most amazing woman in the whole universe; he had been happy, really _happy_ for the first time in so many years and now… Now he doubted he'll ever let himself love ever again. Matsumoto Rangiku – the fukutaicho, famous with her loyalty had betrayed him in the worst way possible. She had cut out his heart right out of his chest and broken it into million tiny pieces… And all that with a single telephone conversation he had accidentally overheard…

Hitsugaya bit his lower lip and slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground. He placed the cardboard box beside him and buried his pale trembling fingers into his hair. He wished so badly that he could just forget all about it. He wished he could believe that one day… he would remember this with an apathy and boredom… That he would shrug, not carrying at all and his thoughts would drift away to something more important… But he knew… he would never be able to do that. His heart, broken into million pieces or not, would always belong to Matsumoto Rangiku…

* * *

Meanwhile Matsumoto found herself sitting in front of three gigantic stacks of paperwork. Her eyes went big and she sputtered, unable to hold back her shock and horror. And just as she thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, her new captain dumped down yet another terrifying stack on her desk. He then stood up straight, putting his hands on his hips and examining the stacks carefully with his cold black eyes. After a moment he finally nodded with approval.

'I think that's all.' He announced indifferently 'I want this finished by tomorrow afternoon.'

Matsumoto sputtered once more, here eyes becoming impossibly big as she lifted her gaze to stare at him as if he was insane.

'You want me to do all this… All alone? By TOMORROW?' she exclaimed, indignantly pointing at all the paperwork.

'Yes.' He simply confirmed, not even slightly touched by her reaction.

She let out a dry laugh.

'Well, I can't.' Matsumoto admitted, throwing her hands in the air. 'That's impossible!'

'Are you trying to tell me you can't deal with simple paperwork?'

'I _can_ deal with paperwork! It's just that this is too much for one person to do in such a short time!' Matsumoto said, while picking the first sheet of paper on the top of the stack and examining it. She then put it down in front of her and shook her head.

'Nope, this can't possibly be done by tomorrow afternoon.'

Kenji let out a soft snicker.

'Well, I don't care how your former taicho treated you, but while under my command, you won't spend the time in the office napping and chatting, _you will work_!' he leaned over the desk and over the stacks of paperwork so his face was centimeters away from hers 'So I strongly advise you to pick up the pen and start working to prove you're worthy your high rank! Those stacks – done by tomorrow afternoon. Are we clear, Barbie?'

Matsumoto's jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed, but she nodded. Kenji pulled back and without a word headed to the front door.

'Hey, HEY!' Rangiku shouted with confusion, when he opened the door 'Where are you going?'

'That's out of your business.' Kenji snapped 'Now get to work.'

And with that… he was gone. Matsumoto blinked a couple of times at the now closed door, then sighed and redirected her eyes to the paperwork. She made a grimace and shifted a bit in her chair to get more comfortable. She was going to spend some loooong time here… in the sweet company of these wonderful sheets of paper…

This day couldn't get any worse. She didn't work for Hitsugaya anymore, she hadn't had the chance to tell him how she felt and her new boss was an odd creepy man that didn't seem to like her or anyone else at all...

_Boy, this is… MUCH!_ _Even Toushiro won't be able to finish all this in such a short time… And he's one hell of a worker-bee…_

Where did all this work come from? Were they _that _close to the deadline? If they really were, why wasn't her new taicho here to work with her? And... What was he doing anyway? Why did he just leave? And where to? Was he on work or what?

Matsumoto sighed, biting the top of her pen and begun reading the text on the first sheet of paper with a slight frown on her face.

For the next two hours or so she managed to deal with one seventh of the first stack. Her head was already beginning to ache and Kenji was still nowhere in sight. Feeling tired of all this, Matsumoto leaned back in her chair for a ten minutes break. She let out a small sigh and begun massaging her temples.

'How does Toshiro do this? To stay concentrated on paperwork for such a long time…' she murmured, then stretched her arms and sank into the chair. She spent the next few minutes like this – not moving much, just resting and not thinking of anything. And just as her ten minutes ended, from the room next to the office someone turned on their radio and increased the volume to almost maximum. Matsumoto let out an exhausted moan. She had no idea how people found a way to catch radio signals from the real world and she honestly didn't care, but in times like this, this could be a terrible pain in the ass…

She hit the wall behind her with a dictionary she got from the desk, shouting to the people on the other side to turn down the volume, when the words of the song that was playing finally reached her mind...

_Don't leave me in all this pain  
Don't leave me out in the rain  
Come back and bring back my smile  
Come and take these tears away__…_

What the hell was that? Matsumoto blinked, letting the words sink in.

_I need your arms to hold me now  
The nights are so unkind  
Bring back those nights  
When I held you beside me_

Ok… So this sounded kind of familiar… Didn't it?

_Unbreak my heart  
Say you'll love me again  
Undo this hurt you caused  
When you walked out the door  
And walked outta my life  
Uncry these tears  
I cried so many nights  
Unbreak my heart, my heart_

Suddenly the image of Hitsugaya, leaving her apartment popped into her head, making her shoulders droop and her expression change from annoyance into guilt and sudden longing for those times before the day he found out about the bet...

_Take back that sad word goodbye  
Bring back the joy to my life  
Don't leave me here with these tears  
Come and kiss this pain away  
I can't forget the day you left  
Time is so unkind  
And life is so cruel  
Without you here beside me_

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to chase the image out of her mind. But it didn't work out very well. No matter how hard she tried it was still there. Stuck… deep inside her heart, mind and soul… She couldn't change that. She couldn't… no matter how painful it was…

_  
Don't leave me in all this pain  
Don't leave me out in the rain  
Bring back the nights  
When I held you beside me_

_What if he never forgives me? What if he never gives me another chance? What if this is it? The end… And there's no more of the story to tell. Maybe the hurt I caused him is unfixable and he doesn't love me anymore…_

_… What if all that is left is hate, anger and sadness?_

_Unbreak my, unbreak my heart,  
Come back and say you love me  
Unbreak my heart sweet darlin'  
Without you I just can't go on  
Can't go on__…_

Matsumoto listened to the rest of the song in silence and when it was over she carefully wiped the single tear that had rolled down her cheek. She then returned to her work. No other song was played… It seemed like the guys in the next room had lost the signal.

* * *

Fifth devision office…

'I can't believe it!' Hinamori admitted leaning over Hitsugaya's new desk with a warm smile on her face 'I can't believe the little Shiro is my boss now…' she giggled reaching to ruffle his snowy-white hair. Toushiro let out a small growl in protest but didn't stop her. He let her do what she wanted, then fixed his tousled hair as much as he could without using a mirror.

'I'll ask you very politely not to do that…' he murmured, while putting his stuff into the drawers. Hinamori giggled.

'Ok, ok… Whatever you say… taicho…' she grinned 'This sound soooo strange, you know?'

'Yeah… I know…' Hitsugaya agreed softly. Momo bit her lower lip in waht seemed to be a childish excitment, then after relizing he wasn't in a mood to talk too much, walked to her desk and sat down. For the next couple of minutes she just silently watched him put his stuff into different drawers. When he was finally done, he let out a sigh and looked around the office. His new office… It was the so different, yet he couldn't say exactly why. It was… something in the atmosphere… Something that was missing…

'Hey… taicho?' Momo begun, slightly tilting her head to a side.

'Yes, what is it?' he asked, redirecting his teal eyes to her.

'Can we go to the festival tomorrow?' she asked, a small blush creeping on her cheeks. Hitsugaya blinked.

'What festival?'

'What do you mean what festival? There's a festival tomorrow!' she frowned a bit and folded her arms in front of her chest.

Hitsugaya needed a couple of seconds to understand what she was talking about and when he did, he slapped himself mentally. How could he forget something like that? He and Matsumoto had even planned to go together… but considering the circumstances, that was impossible now. So…

'Alright… I guess we can go…' he shrugged.

* * *

Ok... so, here's the fourth chapter. How was it? I'm sure you know the name of the song, but I'll say it anyway: 'Unbreak my heart' by Toni Braxton. I hope you liked the chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

It was late in the evening when Matsumoto finally managed to finish the first stack of paperwork. She was so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes opened so the only thing she wished with all her heart was to get to her apartment and plop into the oh-so-cozy bed... She was already looking forward to do that when she walked out of her office, closed the door and pulled her keys to lock it. In her free hand she was holding some paperwork. Not that she expected to actually do it, but still…

She sighed. Her new taicho was nowhere to be seen. As much as she managed to find out with short calls during her also very short breaks and the lunch break, Kenji was a very skilled shinigami with excellent grades and one of the shinigami academy's favorites. So… well, it was going to be pretty hard to get rid of him.,.

Matsumoto frowned. Where was that guy? How could he be out all day long? Was he at work or what?

…Then again… While working for Hitsugaya, that was exactly what Rangiku did when she didn't feel like working…

Sighing once again, Matsumoto squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get rid of the thought of her former captain, then put the keys in her pocket and turned around, only to jump startled. In front of her, just centimeters away, stood Kenji. She had no idea when he had appeared, she had probably been too lost in her thoughts, but she surely didn't like it when people sneaked behind her back and as soon as she realized the distance between them, hurried to pull back. The next thing Matsumoto noticed was the way his breath smelled – it was a painfully familiar smell - he reeked of sake.

'Barbie.' He greeted without much interest 'Done with the paperwork?'

Matsumoto raised an eyebrow, then let out a short dry laugh.

'Hardly.' She answered with flat tone.

'Done by tomorrow afternoon. Got it?' he demanded, before slowly walking past her. Matsumoto followed him with her eyes, then, when he disappeared, shook her head and once more headed for her apartment.

'It could be done if you helped me…' she murmured 'Otherwise I don't see how I'm going to make it…'

* * *

It wasn't a big surprise when the next day happened to begin almost the same way as the one before. Matsumoto once more found herself facing the three enormous terrifying stacks of paperwork. Every tiny hope of getting some help shuddered the moment her taicho announced he was going on a meeting and that after it he wasn't going to be back soon. She followed him with enraged eyes as he disappeared behind the door and pulled the first piece of paper from the top of the stack, slamming it on the desk in front of her with unneeded malice. How was she supposed to do all this in such a short time? How was she going to make it for the festival? She had been waiting for it with such eagerness and now the stupid paperwork was going to take it away from her. That was so unfair…

_Damn it! _

Biting the top of the brush, she decided to try her best to finish everything and if it didn't work (which was the most possible option)… well, then she was just going to leave for the festival. She nodded to herself confidently. Yup, that was exactly what she was about to do. After all, she had life and rights and her so-called captain had to deal with it, whether he liked it or not.

Proud with her decision, Rangiku smiled to herself and started to work.

At the end of the day, with much effort she managed to finish a stack and a half. Which was a record in her opinion. Thanks to that record now her head was aching like hell, she was exhausted and she couldn't concentrate on anything anymore. She was like a pressed out fruit. There was no more strength for working in her anymore.

Matsumoto sighed, gathering the paper, scattered all over the desk and arranged it in tidy stacks so it was obvious what was done and what not. Then she stood up and prepared to leave. She couldn't wait to get out of the stuffy office and finally get some rest. She was sure that after fifteen minutes with Ikkaku, Hisagi and Kira, she would feel much better – they were most definitely going to cheer her up. And one more thing – she was hoping to see Hitsugaya on the festival. Talk to him, maybe… though… She felt her heart sink when she remembered their last conversation. He didn't trust her, he wanted to forget everything that had happened between them… then why was she even trying? Wasn't she chasing a dream? Trying to fix a broken vase and imagine there were no cracks?

She sighed, then headed to the door, lost in thoughts. If there was any solution to her problem it was definitely somewhere outside this office… away from the horrors of the paperwork… away from the horrors of having an insane man for a capt-…

'Hello, Barbie.'

Matsumoto sighed, stopping in front of her taicho, who had just entered the office and was now staring at her with his cold black eyes. She simply stared back with equal coldness, hoping he would just move aside and let her pass. When he didn't, she rolled her eyes and tried to squeeze in, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back inside.

'What do you think you're doing?' Kenji asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

'Leaving.' She snorted, trying to pull away. He glanced at the stacks on her desk and frowned.

'You're not done.' He noticed, his grip on her arm tightening. Matsumoto let out a small cry as the hold became painful and glared at him.

'Let. Me. Go!' she hissed. He just looked down at her coldly and smirked.

'I will, Barbie, but let's clear things out: you have to finish your job.'

'I can't finish it, because it's insanely much... Dammit, let me go! You're…' she stopped and bit her lower lip, trying to hold back another cry. God, that guy was nuts! And his grip was totally iron. Now she was sure there was going to be a large bruise on her arm tomorrow.

'I'm what?' the captain asked, raising an amused eyebrow 'Hurting you? Are you a lieutenant or what?'

She didn't answer, just made another pathetic attempt to get away. Kenji let out an annoyed sigh and pulled her towards her desk, where he made her sit down on the chair and just then released her hand.

'Look, Barbie' he begun, staring down at the young woman who was now glaring at him with the best glare she could master while rubbing her aching arm 'You'll do this paperwork. If you don't by tomorrow morning, I'll fire you. I have enough reasons from your former offences to do so. If you want to keep your job, I strongly advise you to get back to work.'

Matsumoto's glare turned into an indignant and rather vulnerable look as her eyes shifted from Kenji to the stacks, then to the door. Was she ready to lose her job? Not to be a lieutenant anymore? Just an ordinary person with _some_ skills? A failed shinigami?

She shook her head and looked down. No, she wasn't... she loved her job. She couldn't do anything else and besides... all her friends were here... she couldn't lose all that.

...But he was right. He had enough reasons for firing her. Hitsugaya had always had them too. That was the truth. The only reason why she was still a vice-captain of the tenth division was his kindness. And now that he was gone, she had to work hard to keep her job… and she was going to do it. Even if it meant staying up late to deal with boring and yet exhausting paperwork.

Seeing the way her expression softened, Kenji realized she had given up and nodded.

'Good choice.' with that he turned around and made his way towards the door.

* * *

Some time later at the festival…

'Come on, taicho, smiiiiile!' Momo pleaded, looking at Hitsugaya with glistering eyes 'The festival is sooo much fun, why are you sad?'

'I'm not sad.' Toushiro lied, making a pathetic attempt to really smile at his cheerful new fukutaicho. She didn't get fooled though and put her hands on her hips, pouting.

'You're not really smiling.' She noticed. Hitsugaya sighed, looking away.

'I'm sorry, Momo, it's just that…' he stopped, closing his eyes for a moment, as if that incomplete sentence had actually tired him, then after awhile added '…The last couple of days had been kind of hard for me.'

Hinamori stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly her face lit up and she snapped her fingers.

'I know! I'll go get us some cotton candy!' she chirped and before Hitsugaya had time to stop her, she was gone. He sighed once again, looking at her bun disappearing in the crowd, then his attention was once more drawn to the festival. The truth was that he was an idiot not to have fun. It was a great festival: very colorful and the music was wonderful. But…

…he couldn't stop thinking what would it be like to be here with Matsumoto, instead of Hinamori…

_NO, stop thinking about her! _He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head fiercely. Not that this could actually work, but still…

When he once again opened his eyes, he spotted a group of shinigami nearby, who were drinking sake and chatting. Hisagi, Ikkaku and Kira.

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. Why wasn't Matsumoto with those three? Weren't they her little group for _binges_? Was she somewhere alone? Or… was she with someone else?

Hitsugaya felt his heart miss a beat at the last thought. Could she possibly be on the festival with another guy… That soon?

Then again, there hadn't been anything between them really... It had been just… an act. A stupid game.

Still… he had to know.

Before actually realizing what he was doing, he had already walked to the trio and had, of course, captured their attention with an ease.

'Where's Matsumoto?' Hitsugaya asked bluntly, getting a rather puzzled looks from the three. They stood silent for awhile, just staring stupidly at the boy, each one of them musing over the fact why exactly he was here. The young prodigy didn't make any effort to get them out of their trance, he didn't repeat his question, nor did he move from his spot. He just stood there and waited patiently with his arms corssed in front of his chest.

Then Ikkaku finally managed to comprehend the question and answered:

'She's not with us.'

Toushiro rolled his eyes.

'I can see that. Where is she?' he asked, raising an eyebrow at the bald guy who was looking more and more confused.

'Well, she's ummm… At the office. Yeah, that was it. She's at the office. Working.'

'Working?' Hitsugaya repeated, not looking very assured 'Are you mocking me?'

'What? NO!' Ikkaku hurried to shake his head 'I'm serious. She called and said she wasn't going to make it… She said her captain had made her do… eeeerrrrrrr… oh, yeah, a stack and a half paperwork.'

'A stack and a… are you positive?' Hitsugaya stared at Ikkaku in disbelieve. The latter shrugged and took a sip from his sake.

'She said Kenji-taicho had told her if she couldn't make it, she was fired.' He explained.

Hitsugaya looked away thoughtfully and for a couple of seconds didn't say anything. Then nodded and turned around ready to leave.

'If you see Momo, tell her I won't be back.' He said and with that shunpoed away leaving a group of confused male shinigami to stare at the empty spot where he had been standing just a second ago.

* * *

Ok, I'm soooooooo sorry for updating that late. But the holidays and stuff... I couldn't. Forgive me! TT

How did ya like this chapter? Please, review!


	6. Chapter 6

Hitsugaya opened his former office's door soundlessly and still rather uncertain of what exactly he was about to do, entered the room. The dull light coming from a desk lamp was the only thing that kept that place from sinking into complete darkness. The captain made a few imperceptible steps inside. He looked around and as soon as he spotted Matsumoto's writing-table, his features softened and he sighed. She was there. Sleeping with her head on some of the reports.

Before he knew it, Hitsugaya was standing next to her, watching her with some sort of mix of gentleness and hurt in his teal eyes. He couldn't help it. He missed her. He missed watching her, having her around him, listening to her wonderful voice, gazing into those gorgeous oceans of eyes she had… He missed… everything about her…

_Why did it have to turn out so wrong?_

Why was he here…? Why did he care that much? Why did he keep loving her, even after what happened? Why couldn't he forget her?

_Why…?_

There was nobody to answer. Nobody to advise him, nobody to help him, nobody to save him…

Once upon a time he had thought that she was his saver…

…but she had turned out to be his executioner.

Sighing, he ran one of his hands through his snow-white hair and placed the other one on the edge of the desk in what seemed to be an attempt to support himself. She had some sort of power over him. A power he could not deny. A power that… actually kept him from hating her…

His fingers, he realized, were slowly sliding on the even surface of the desk towards her face, longing to touch, longing to feel her warm skin so much different from his cold one. But he couldn't. He couldn't… it would only hurt more… it would only make it worse…

Hitsugaya shook his head and retrieved his hand, clenching his fist so hard that it made his short nails sink into the flesh of his palm.

'Damn it all!' he whispered and stepped back from her sleeping form, only to spot something odd on her arm and once again approach her. He frowned, then carefully lifted the edge of her sleeve up to reveal to the faint light of the desk lamp a large purple bruise. Hitsugaya's eyes widened and he couldn't help it but gasp and blink a few times, trying to make sure he wasn't imagining things. He then pulled away, still staring at Matsumoto in disbelieve, until his shock turned into anger…

The next morning Matsumoto woke up with the first sunlight rays that entered the room through the ajared window. She blinked a few timed to adjust her still sleepy eyes to the light and sat up only to realize three things:

1.She was in her office.

2.She had been sleeping on the sofa.

3.She had been covered with what seemed to be a not very long coat.

She raised an eyebrow and picked up the coat to examine it. It was made of nice expensive black material…

…and…

She blinked.

…it belonged to Hitsugaya.

She jumped on her feet immediately, trying to recall the events from the last night but all she could remember was getting a bruised arm from Kenji and doing paperwork and… then nothing.

She blinked. Well, that couldn't be all, right? There had to be something more. Something she was forgetting. Something important… like…

_OH MY GOD! DID I FINISH THE PAPERWORK? DAMN IT! I'M SO FIRED!_

Matsumoto ran to her desk, almost tripping in the process and when she got there, all she could do was stare with eyes big as plates. The paperwork… it was done. It was finished. All of it! It was sorted into two stacks and on top of one of them there was a small note with something written on it. She carefully took it and lifted it to her eyes. There were only three words written on it with a very familiar small handwriting:

_Sign up these._

Matsumoto couldn't help it but smile. A tiny uncertain, yet somehow hopeful smile.

_Toushiro…_

She looked at the stack. Signing up was going to take only a couple of minutes. The young prodigy had done everything else… somehow… during the night…

* * *

Stepping outside of the room, Kenji stretched his arms. Captain meetings had turned out to be even worse than he had expected. They were extremely boring and most of the time related to things that didn't concern him even the slightest bit. This time the general had rambled about something, then that creepy serious Byakuya dude from the sixth division continued the rambling, and then… then… then Kenji couldn't remember anything… 

Yawning, the new captain shrugged.

He didn't even understand what these meetings were for. Didn't those people have anything better to do?

He shook his head and slowly started to make his way down the corridor and towards the yard. He needed some rest, a nice rest to rehabilitate after the damn meeting. Some fresh air, a walk and some sake were going to do the thing.

He smiled dreamily at the thought and made a right turn only to face the burning glare of the fifth division's captain, Hitsugaya Toushiro. The younger shinigami was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and with a very deep frown on his face.

'Captain Kenji.' Hitsugaya said dryly.

'Can I help you?' the red-head asked, his voice an annoyed drawl. Was there something else from the meeting that needed to be discussed?

Hitsugaya pushed himself away from the wall and stood in front of the other guy with his arms still folded.

'You can' he replied, slightly tilting his head to a side. There was a short pause before he added his voice now dripping with venom 'By treating Matsumoto in a way that won't leave her asleep on her desk with tons of paperwork around her and a large bruise on her arm.'

Kenji just stared oddly at the teen for a couple of seconds, then an amused smile formed on his face.

'I don't think she's any of your concern anymore.' He answered calmly. Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed.

'You have no right of taking advantage of her former offenses and threaten her.' Toushiro hissed through tightly gritted teeth 'She's a loyal and skilled shinigami and deserves to be treated with respect.'

'Oh, is that so?' Kenji let out a dry laugh 'Mind your own business, boy, don't mess up with mine, because you'll be sorry…'

The temperature around them suddenly dropped as Hitsugaya's glare hardened.

'I'll make this simple for you' the young prodigy began 'If you hurt her, ever again, I'll make sure you regret the day you met me.'

Every hint of smile on Kenji's face disappeared, leaving a deep scowl and two cold eyes staring into Hitsugaya's teal ones.

'Are you threatening me, boy?' he asked with a deadly calm voice.

Hitsugaya unfolded his arms.

'It seems that way.' He said, remaining composed 'Have a nice day.'

With that the younger captain walked pass Kenji and in the direction the latter had just come from. The red-head narrowed his eyes as he watched Hitsugaya disappear behind the corner at the end of the corridor.

'Hitsugaya Toushiro, ne?' he murmured thoughtfully, as a smirk slowly formed on his lips 'Well, this might just get interesting… '

* * *

Hitsugaya could hardly keep his eyes opened as he made his way to the fifth division. The tricky thing about doing paperwork all night long was that you were so exhausted the next day it was unbelievably hard to stay awake. Toushiro barely managed to endure the whole meeting. It felt sooo long and… monotone… and… easily to fall asleep during the boring monologs… 

He yawned and ran a hand through his silver hair, his eyes almost closed as he did so. This was going to be a looong day…

Without paying much attention to where he was heading and trusting blindly his tired legs, he made a right turn.

'Hitsugaya-taicho!' a familiar voice exclaimed as the captain walked straight into its owner, managed to pull back and then reeled a bit before regaining his balance. He needed a couple of seconds to gather himself and comprehend what was going on.

'Matsumoto…' he managed to murmur, sleepily looking at the woman in front of him 'Good morning…'

'Good morning, captain.' She smiled at him warmly, before handing him his coat somehow solemnly 'I think this is yours…'

Hitsugaya took the garment from her with a small absent nod.

'Did you sign them up?' he asked without much thinking.

'Yeah, I did.' Matsumoto looked down and for a couple of seconds there was just silence. Just strange, yet somehow soothing silence. Then Matsumoto looked up, her eyes somehow glistering as she spoke:

'I was actually looking for you… wanted to say thanks… for everything.'

Hitsugaya sighed.

'Don't mention it.' He said softly and after a short pause added 'How's your arm?'

'Naah, don't worry about it. It's nothing.' Matsumoto replied, waving her hand absently. She smiled at him soothingly and then opened her mouth to say something, but stopped, blinking with surprise.

_He knows?_

Her eyes widened and she felt a faint blush creeping up her face.

'Yeah, I saw it…' Hitsugaya nodded, seeing her shocked expression 'When I found you asleep your sleeve had pushed up a little… And... I know that jerk for a captain you have did it...'

'Oh…' was all she could say in return. Hitsugaya sighed once again.

'I'm sorry. Your arm… it's all my fault.' he said softly, looking away. Matsumoto blinked, surprised yet once again.

'What are you talking about?' she raised an eyebrow 'You have nothing to do with it.'

Toushiro shook his head.

'No… it is. It is my fault you got that bastard for a captain. And I'm sorry. I'll try to fix everything, I promise.'

Matsumoto gave him a small smile, before making a step or two towards him. Her hesitation was obvious, yet there was some sort of detemination radiating from her as she gazed into his teal eyes with her own ocean-blue and somehow pleading ones.

'Toushiro…' she began, biting her lower lip nervously 'There's something I've been trying to tell you for quite some time…'

Hitsugaya slightly tilted his head to a side.

'Yeah? What is it?' he asked softly, almost fearfully. He couldn't hold back the hint of hope that crept in his voice.

_Could it be...?_

Matsumoto opened her mouth to continue, but suddenly a high-pitched squeak cut through the air and a small figure ran past her and straight into Hitsugaya.

'TAICHO!' Momo exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly 'I've been so worried! You disappeared so suddenly yesterday evening at the festival! I came back and you were gone. I got so scared. Luckily I found Ikkaku and the guys and they told me you needed to do something and that's why you left, but still… I was worried.'

Matsumoto stared at the two with wide eyes and slightly opened mouth.

_What the hell...?_

She felt her heart sink as the realization hit her and she clenched her jaw. She looked away from the two, a mix of jealousy, anger and misery overwhelming her.

_So he had been at the festival with her, before he came to help me…_

'I'm sorry for ruining your plans for the evening...' Matsumoto whispered, closing her eyes for a moment 'And thanks again.' with that she turned around and prepared to shunpo. Behind her back Hitsugaya blinked, trying to make his half-sleeping mind understand what she was saying. His plans? For the evening?

_Oh, shit!_

His eyes widened and he pulled away from Hinamori.

'No, wait! It's not... MATSUMOTO!' Hitsugaya shouted, but it was already too late. She was gone.

* * *

Mmmm, ok, so Kenji will do more vile acts in the next chapter so BEWARE! I hope this fic isn't turning into an annoying soap opera. I promise this won't be more than ten chapters. Please review! 


	7. Chapter 7

Kenji wasn't someone who was used to be threatened. The very few people who had actually done that had ended up in a pretty bad manner soon after, if you know what I mean. But despite the rare occasions when he had the chance to deal with such problems, the red-head was fully aware of what to do. And the first thing he had to do, was to find out more about the irritating person who didn't know how to mind his own business. No, 'more' wasn't the word. Kenji had to know everything. And considering Hitsugaya wasn't someone who just walks around babbling about his personal life, nor did any of his colleagues had any intention of opening their mouths about the silver-haired captain, the new tenth division's head needed to find another, roundabout way to get what he wanted.

…So he did. And pretty quickly, too.

If there were people in Soul Society who knew everything about everybody, those were the barmen. Even if Hitsugaya didn't go to bars, his friends did, his colleagues did, his subordinates did, and they were definitely way more willing to spit out his dirty little secrets at the barman after few drinks, than they usually would be at anyone else in any other situation. Sooner or later, something was going to come out. And that was all Kenji was waiting for…

So the red-head did what he had to do – went to all local bars he could think of and bribed the barmen. And the latter were venal people. What can you expect for somebody who spends their day serving drinks, washing glasses and cleaning the counter?

'Captain Hitsugaya?' every each one of the barmen asked, staring at the money that were handed to him/her 'The guy's pretty right-minded, ya know… It won't be easy…'

Kenji just shrugged. The brat couldn't be so perfect. There had to be some interesting stuff about him that the red-head could use.

True - it took quite some time until he found what he needed. The barmen had a hard time finding somebody who knew about Toushiro. But soon enough a group of regular drinkers, also known as Ikkaku, Hisagi and few others, found themselves in a great need of sake. One of Kenji's bribed men was there to help them in their desperate search for the soothing liquid. Also, he had been there to use the little amount of time while they weren't so drink they couldn't move, but still drunk enough not to realize what they were doing. The next morning Kenji got his information. And he was very pleased, too. For a kid, Hitsugaya had a quite messed up life…

* * *

Few days later… 

Hitsugaya woke up with a bad feeling about the day that was going to follow. He didn't know why, but it was there and the juvenile captain doubt it was going to go away.

_Perfect…_

He groaned, rolling his jade eyes heavenwards before sitting up in his bed. The week hadn't been one of the great ones. He didn't know what to do with Matsumoto. She was terribly upset and it was obvious. Especially the times he had caught her staring at him and Hinamori. She had looked so hurt, that Hitsugaya's heart just seemed to stop beating. He wanted to tell her so badly that there was nothing between him and Momo, but then again… there was nothing between him and Rangiku either, was it? His personal life was none of Matsumoto's concern. Hitsugaya had to get used to that. The tenth division's fukutaicho had to get used, too.

Hitsugaya shook his head and pushed the blanket away before dangling his legs over the side of the bed. As he stood up, the feeling in his stomach got stronger. He frowned. Bad feelings seemed to be an ordinary thing for him, they could mean everything – from Matsumoto spilling tea all over his done paperwork, to Matsumoto arriving all drunk at work. So he was used not to pay attention to it. But then again, there was no Matsumoto to do any of these things and Hinamori was quite a responsible lieutenant, so what could it be?

'Well, there's only one way to find out…' he murmured, stretching his arms and cracking a few bones.

Hitsugaya was ready for work within thirty minutes and just as every other day, he went out of his apartment, locked the door and headed to his office.

But unlike every other day, he felt unusual amount of curious stares following him wherever he went. And by 'unusual amount' I mean that every each one of the shinigami he passed by stopped whatever he/she was doing to look at him in way that the silver-haired teen didn't like even the slightest bit. It was like he was some sort of a moving attraction, an object, something rare and unhuman. And it definitely made him feel uneasy. Toushiro frowned and narrowed his eyes slightly. This was… disturbing. To say the least. People were looking at him oddly, shutting up whenever he showed up, whispering, pointing, letting out rather derisive chuckles under their breaths… something was wrong. Hitsugaya just knew it.

_What the hell is going on?_

He dropped in his office to leave some documents and mentally made a note that Hinamori was acting the same way. She was staring at him oddly, awfully oddly, as if he was some sort of a green-skinned alien. And when he asked her what was wrong, she immediately denied that she had been acting weird. Hitsugaya frowned and decided to ask her about it later, then headed for yet another captain meeting. He got there with the tiny hope of getting some rest of the bothering whispers and gazes, but of course, there was none. His scowl deepened as he noticed the small gloating smirk on Mayuri's lips and the worried looks on Ukitake, Kenpachi, Kyoraku, Komamura and Unohana's faces.

'Hey, are you ok?' Ukitake asked softly, placing his hand on Hitsugaya's shoulder as the younger captain was about to pass by. Toushro looked down at the hand, puzzled.

'Y-yeah, I think so…' he replied, not really understanding what else to do. He was about to ask what was going on, when the general entered the hall and Hitsugaya had to hurry to take his place.

Yamamoto's gaze traced the two prefect lines of captains and stopped on Hitsugaya, making the boy let out an almost imperceptible exhausted sigh.

'Hitsugaya-taicho.' The old man said slowly as he looked at the boy up and down 'Are you feeling alright? Would you like to take a day or two off?'

For some people Yamamoto might have looked like he actually cared, but Hitsugaya knew better – all the general was interest in was how the system under his control worked. If there was a damaged element in that system, that could ruin everything. The old freak didn't want that. But then again – that lead to one thing – why would he think Hitsugaya was a damaged element? The prodigy frowned and slowly shook his head.

'Are you sure?' the general asked.

'Yes, sir.'

'I see. Inform me if you change your decision. Now let's get to business.'

Hitsugaya barely managed to wait until the end of the meeting. He wanted to find out what was going on and fast. The bad feeling that was messing up with his stomach since the morning had gotten even stronger and the mere idea that people, more importantly the general, thought he was incapable of doing his job, was driving the silver-haired teen crazy. It seemed like he, for once, was the only one who was unaware of the situation, and also a situation that had something to do with himself. And that was definitely not a good thing…

Toushiro sighed, closing his eyes in a pathetic attempt to relax for a moment so he could think more clearly afterwards. It didn't work out very well… so he simply returned to the intrusive question.

_What could it be?_

What, indeed? Had he done something…? Something that could make everybody act that way? And if yes, how did they find out? Who told them?

'Understood?… Dissmissed.' Yamamoto announced dryly some time later and the captains headed to the door. Hitsugaya was about to hurry to catch up with Ukitake and try to find out the problem, when Mayuri somehow appeared in front of him, blocking the way. Toushiro stopped dead on his track and his scowl slightly deepened at the sight of the gloating smirk on the other taicho's face.

'Well, well, well…' Mayuri's voice was dripping with venom and at the same time it radiated some sort of wicked satisfaction '…it seems like someone finally put you in your place, _little prodigy._'

'What do you want, Mayuri?' Hitsugaya snapped, trying to remain composed. Mayuri's smirk only grew wider as he bend down so his eyes yellow eyes were on the same level as the younger captain's jade ones and answered in a sing-song voice while, as it seemed, enjoying every word.

'I always knew you were pathetic little freak, but daring to even imagine something like that, daring to think that it's possible… Well, I must say that I wasn't expecting that. But I must also admit it was a pleasant surprise…'

Hitsugaya opened his mouth, but before he had the chance to say anything, another voice interfered:

'I think this is Hitsugaya's business, Mayuri.' Kenpachi's large hand landed on Hitsugaya's shoulder. The twelfth division's taicho let out an almost imperceptible growl that sounded just like 'You're ruining my fun' and stood up straight.

'Don't overreact, Zaraki, we're just chatting.' Mayuri replied with a carny voice as a fake smile formed on his lips.

'Really? May I take part in this 'enjoyable' chat, then?' Kyoraku drawled, coming from somewhere behind Kurotsuchi's back.

'I must admit it didn't sound very enjoyable to me.' Zaraki said, his hand slightly squeezing Toushiro's shoulder 'If there's something you'd like to tell Toushiro, go ahead, we're listening.'

Mayuri's eyes widened a bit and his lips slightly parted.

'We're waiting…' Kyoraku sang and put his hands on his hips.

There was a short pause before Mayuri finally gave up with a low snarl and directed his eyes to Toushiro.

'Fine.' he hissed through gritted teeth while having a sort of glaring competition with Hitsugaya 'I don't care if most of the taichos and fukutaichos feel sorry for you, in my opinion you asked for it, brat. Acting all strong and mighty around, when you're just an impertinent spoiled kid!'

'MAYURI!' Zaraki bellowed, narrowing his eyes dangerously at the twelfth division's captain and at the same time tightening his grip on Hitsugaya's shoulder just in case the silver-haired teen decided to do something stupid. Which was a wise move, considering the room was much colder than before.

Kurotsuchi let out a dry laugh before waving his hand dismissively.

'Alright, alright! I won't hurt our _precious_ little prodigy's feelings anymore… Then again… Hitsugaya seems to be taking things pretty well, considering the whole Soul Society knows about him being tricked in falling in love with his lieutenant and all…' Mayuri turned around and slowly started to make his way out of the hall 'Pathetic. Thinking that someone might_ actually_ fall in love with you… Sheesh. And here they call you boy genius… ' and with that he was gone.

Hitsugaya felt as if his heart had stopped beating. The blood left his face, his eyes went wide and suddenly he felt as if he was suffocating. His lips slightly parted. He could hear his own unsteady breaths _in-out-in-out-in-out _so much louder than usually.

'Kid?' Zaraki asked, frowning as he saw the expression written all over the prodigy's face. Toushiro's legs went weak and he was sure that if it Kenpachi's strong hand hadn't been there to grab his arm, he would've collapsed for sure.

'Hey, hey, kid, don't you faint on me, you hear me?' the eleventh division's captain exclaimed, glancing at Kyoraku's direction with worry 'You think he didn't knew about the rumours?'

'It seems that this is the case. Toushiro, do you hear me?'

Kyoraku walked to the boy, squat in front of him and snapped his fingers in near Hitsugaya's face. No reaction. Shunsui then placed his hands on the smaller captain's shoulders and gently shook him.

'Toushiro! Snap out of it!'

Hitsugaya squeezed his eyes shut and without warning pulled away from Kyoraku's grip.

'Tell Yamamoto I am taking a few days off…' Toushiro whispered and before any of the other captains had time to reply, shunpoed away.

* * *

Meanwhile… 

'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!' Matsumoto yelled, grabbing Ikkaku by the collar and pulling him towards her 'WHY DOES THE WHOLE SOUL SOCIETY KNOW ABOUT THE BET!?'

'I-I-I have no idea…' the bald guy murmured, staring with horrified eyes at her beautiful face, now livid with anger.

'Spit out, Madarame, or else…'

'I really don't know, Rangiku, please, let go!'

'I don't believe you! Nobody else except of you, Kira and Hisagi know about the whole story! Who of you morons did it? WHO? You screwed my life, you know that? YOU SCREWED IT! AND THE WORST PART!? WHEN HITSUGAYA FINDS OUT ABOUT THE RUMOURS, HE'LL THINK _I _DID IT!'

'But I'm telling the truth, I didn't even… Oh... Oh my.' Madarame blinked, his eyes locked somewhere above Matsumoto's head. She raised an eyebrow and reluctantly followed his gaze.

'Look at this…' the bald shinigami exclaimed as he watched the bright-blue sky quickly become overcast with dark clouds 'Have you ever seen a storm appearing so fast?'

Matsumoto dropped him on the ground and frowned as the first heavy drops begun to fall down.

'Yes… Actually I have.' She murmured 'When Hinamori slipped into coma…'

'What do you mean?' Ikkaku asked, standing up and dusting off his clothes. Matsumoto's frown deepened.

'What do you think? Our ice prince found out about the rumours. We better hide, Madarame. This… is going to be one hell of a hailstorm…'

**

* * *

A/N: Ok, ok, OK! I know it was somewhat OC and I'm sorry/pouts/ Don't hate me, please! I screwed up on plain geometry, so go easy on me! And I know they said nothing about there being a storm when Momo was in coma, but let's pretend, puh-lease! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I just want to say that there really ARE pieces of ice with such sizes falling from the sky during some hailstorms, I checked it, ok? If you don't believe me go to googledotcom and see yourself. I must admit this chapter didn't turn out excatly the way I wanted it to - I mean I couldn't even reach the scene I wanted to when I planned it, so I suppose the next chapters won't be too short. Not to mention the content - I really wanted it to be better. I'm sorry if it'll diappoint you.**

* * *

Soul Society was going to remember that hailstorm. The way the dark clouds suddenly appeared in the middle of the sunny day, the way the first heavy drops hit the ground and the first powerful lightening cut through the sky – the very same sky that had been bright, clear blue minutes ago, the way the large ice pieces started to fall, big as tennis balls and solid as rocks… But that wasn't the most sinister fact about the phenomenon. The truth, no matter how strange it sounded, was that in some way, for some reason, it seemed like dark ire radiated from the storm. It seemed like… the heavens themselves were overwhelmed with rage and that was their way to show it; their vengeance. And everybody in Soul Society could feel it. It was in the air, inside the crystal drops and solid ice pieces; it was causing the lightening and roaring along with the thunder… It was simply… palpable…

…The _wrath_ of the storm…

Matsumoto had been right. It really turned out to be more than just bad weather… More than just rain, more than just hail. And… the truth was… It was one of those rare times when she actually cursed herself for being correct…

Hidden under a penthouse, Matsumoto leaned against the wall at the back and bit her lower lip. A dark frown quickly found its way to her face as the realization sank deeper and deeper, making her heart sink as well.

_He'll think I did it…_

_I need to tell him, I need to explain to him… but..._

_…He won't listen to me…_

_… He doesn't trust me any more…_

_… still… I can't leave things like that… I have to try…_

She closed her eyes and rubbed her eyebrows, before glancing with a hint of irritation at Ikkaku. He was sitting on the ground, his eyes wide and his mouth agaped as he stared simply dumbfounded at the destructive force of the nature that was oh-so-kindly demonstrate to him at that same moment. It was hard to believe that someone as young as Hitsugaya was able to cause such thing. It was… _incredible_… to say the least…

'Oh, _shit, _the kid must be really upset…' Ikkaku murmured without thinking.

Matsumoto didn't say anything for awhile, just continued watching the storm, as if she hadn't heard what he had said. Then her features slowly softened and a small sigh escaped her lips.

'I have to talk with him…' she announced firmly and pushed herself away from the wall.

Ikkaku released an odd sound that sounded much like a groan and looked at her oddly.

'Now?' he asked, raising an amused eyebrow 'I strongly doubt he'll be in mood to talk to anybody… and to you, in particular…'

'It doesn't matter.' She snapped, the scowl immediately reappearing.

'It surely does!' Ikkaku said, standing up and dusting off his clothes 'You said it yourself, Rangiku, he'll think it was you who spread the rumours.'

'That only gives me more reasons to try and explain to him.' Matsumoto insisted stubbornly. He rolled his eyes.

'There're two reasons why you can't talk with him now.' He begun in business like manner, as he looked her straight in the eye 'First of all, I strongly doubt he'll listen until he calms down at least a bit.'

'And second?' she insisted impatiently, her arms now crossed and her right foot tapping on the ground with growing annoyance.

'Second…' Madarame paused for a moment, then an evil grin slowly formed on his lips '… You're late for work…'

Matsumoto's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her palms to suppress a scream.

'Oh my god, the lunch break is over, isn't it?' she shouted, blinking rapidly. Ikkaku's grin faded to a warm smile and he placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

'Go to work, Rangiku, I'll go and see what's going on with Hitsugaya-taicho, ok?'

Matsumoto slowly let her hands drop from her mouth and sighed, letting a small smile graze her lips.

'Thank you, Madarame.' She answered quietly, then turned around and shunpoed away, leaving a quite preoccupied Ikkaku behind. He shook his head somehow sympathetically, then his eyes drifted to scene outside the penthouse. The hail was over. Now there was just pouring rain. And what once more surprised him, was how the soft, gentle melody, created by the falling drops sounded so melancholic… so lost and hopeless…

He closed his eyes for a moment, just listening to it. Then, much to his own surprise, a small sigh escaped his lips…

…It just felt so much like…

… The heavens were crying… The hail was the rage, now came the other part. Just as every time after the anger outburst, the hopelessness and the sadness suddenly takes over and you calm down, sit and breathe in slowly. Your body relaxes. You realize that as soon as the rage fades away, all that is left is the dull pain inside your empty soul… and the deep crack in your heart... Yes, the heavens _were_ crying… Even if the one who was causing that wasn't… Even if the one who was causing it was sitting on the floor in his apartment with his back against the wall, broken and overwhelmed by apathy…

* * *

Seconds later Matsumoto reappeared few meters away from the door of her office. She took a deep breath in and tried to gather herself as much as possible. There was this slim, slim chance that her new taicho was inside and that wasn't exactly the best state in which she wanted him to see her. She knew that she looked stressed, worried and impatient and she wanted to look exactly the opposite in front of him – uncaring, cool and very enduring. 

After a few seconds of pretty much useless preparation, she held her head up and walked to the door. She took yet another deep breath in and reached for the doorknob with all the confidence and dignity she could master. However, she did not take it after all. Her hand froze centimeters away from it. The reason? She could hear voices coming from inside.

Matsumoto wasn't one to listen to what others talked about – at least usually – but the thing that caught her attention was the fact, that the name of the youngest captain in Seireitei was mentioned.

'_Don't you think you're being a bit hard on him… After all he's just a kid…_' a unfamiliar voice asked.

'_Daichi, do I have to remind you that brat actually threatened me?'_ came Rangiku's present captain's annoyed voice_ 'And for what? For touching that Barbie-girl, who worked for him before…_'.

Matsumoto's eyes widened and she had to try really hard to hold back a gasp.

'_Yes, yes, I know you hate that, but…_'

'_But what?_'

'_What you did is somewhat…'_

'_Somewhat what? __**Low**__? Is that what you want to tell me, Daichi?_'

'_I… well…_'

'_You're fully aware of my methods, aren't you?_'

'_…Yes…_'

'_The first thing you do when you want to remove someone from your way, is to break his/her spirit. And that's exactly what I did._' At that point he paused and let out a small chuckle_ 'It was an amusing coincidence that my pretty Barbie had so much to do with it. Well, I suppose it only explains the obvious tension between those two… and the reason why the kid cares so much about her…_'

'_I think revealing something so personal about him was too cruel even for you…_' Daichi's voice said softly. It was quickly followed by that strange sound of laughter from Kenji.

'_It would've happened sooner or later. You'll be surprised how easy the rumours are spread around here. I didn't even have to do too much…_'

At that point Matsumoto couldn't take it any longer and burst inside the room. Before anyone could stop her, she walked straight to Kenji and slapped him across the face as hard as she could. Then… there was silence…

Daichi, who happened to be some tall brown-haired shinigami, made a step back, his eyes wide. Only one look was enough for him to realize that:

1.This was obviously the so-called Barbie.

2.She was very, very angry.

So he decided to do the most rational thing at that moment – which was storming out of the office shortly after murmuring some sort of lame apology.

'WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU BASTARD?' Matsumoto shouted right into Kenji's face. He didn't even flinch, just watched her coldly, his lips pursed and his jaw beginning to clench.

'I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! IT WAS YOU _WHO_ DID ALL THIS??? I KNEW THERE WERE CREEPY SADISTIC FREAK, BUT THIS IS FUCKING TOO MUCH!' she continued yelling, completely oblivious to the fact that his right eye was beginning to twitch 'AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TALK ABOUT IT AS IF IT'S SOMETHING NORMAL THAT HAPPENS EVERYDAY! WHAT- … YOU _ENJOY_ HURTING PEOPLE, DON'T YOU? IS THAT HOW YOU BECAME A CAPTAIN? BY REMOVING PEOPLE FROM YOU WAY IN _SUCH_ MANNER? BY HURTING THEM? BREAKING THEIR SPIRIT? THAT'S…'

Matsumoto couldn't finish. The next moment she found herself on the floor, the right side of her face burning from pain. For a few seconds she didn't realize what had happened. Then suddenly a hand grabbed her arm and harshly pulled her up, so she was once again standing on her legs, her face centimeters away from Kenji's.

'I think you just went too far, darling!' he hissed through tightly clenched teeth, his narrowed eyes burning holes into her 'The last person who dared to yell at me, yet alone hit me, is probably still in coma or even dead. So, consider that I'm being easy on you today. But next time, _Matsumoto_…' he spat her name with such venom, that she couldn't suppress a shiver 'Next time, I won't be so… _gentle_…'

With that he let go of her and walked out of the office calmly and casually as if nothing unusual had happened. Matsumoto just stared blankly and somehow absently after him, her mind still desperately trying to comprehend the incident, until the taste of some sort of metallic liquid in her mouth brought her back to reality. She lifted her slightly trembling hand and gently touched the right edge of her lip with her index and middle finger. When she pulled them away and looked at them, there were two red stains on the tips.

'Oh, great…' Matsumoto sighed. She turned around and walked to the square mirror that was hanging on the wall near the window. She still remembered the day she had brought it to the office. Hitsugaya had been sitting behind his desk, dealing with paperwork, when she had come in, about three hours late for work, with a square object wrapped in brown paper in her hands. He had looked up from the reports and had given her a quizzically raised eyebrow and she had just giggled softly before going near the window and removing the wrapper. The prodigy had looked rather surprised and had asked what she was planning to do with a mirror in _an office_. She had then smiled at him and winked: '_It's for my cute little taicho to look at it and see how huggable he is._'

Recalling the way Hitsugaya had blushed and had looked away in a pathetic attempt to hide it, made Matsumoto sigh yet once again, before finally gazing into her reflection. Her eyes immediately widened and she gasped. Not only her lip was split and was bleeding, but her right cheekbone was already red and was swelling. It wouldn't be a big surprise if when the turgidity subsided there was a big ugly bruise on its place…

* * *

Meanwhile… 

'HITUGAYA-TAICHO!!!!!!????' Hisagi pretty much yelled, banging on the prodigy's apartment's door. Ikkaku, who was standing right next to the black-haired shinigami, visibly shrank.

'I think that shouting his name to get him to open up isn't the best idea right now…' the bald guy admitted.

'He's right.' Kira agreed, making a step towards the two 'I think that loud sounds usually irritate upset people…'

Hisagi made an annoyed grimace, before stepping away from the door and gesturing towards it in a manner that clearly said '_You do it then_!'. Kira and Ikkaku exchanged glances.

'Maybe it's unlocked… have you tried if it's unlocked?' the blond questioned hopefully. Madarame rolled his eyes.

'Yeaaaah, right. Hitsugaya-taicho's just the _exact_ kind of person you would call careless.' the bald one snorted. Kira simply glared at him, then walked to the door and reached for the handle.

_Click!_

'Ok, I've been wrong before, too…' Ikkaku murmured as the blond pushed the door open and made a step inside, followed closely by the other two.

'Fuck! It's freezing in here!' Ikkaku pointed out as he rubbed his arms in an attempt to warm himself. For some reason the six simple words came out as a somewhat timid whisper. He couldn't say why, but he felt as if he was in a place where he should be very quiet. Like a friggin' library… or hospital… or… graveyard…

'It's pretty dark in here…' Kira noted, looking around the empty black corridor. It looked almost as if nobody lived there, like it had been deserted for months. Everything just seemed so...

Izuru shivered.

... what was with that creepy emptiness in the atmosphere? He couldn't even describe it. As if there was something very important missing in the air... as if everything was _dead_...

Shaking his head, the blond decided to simply drop it. Then, just as he was about to walk to the door in front of him, he spotted something in the right, at the bottom of the corridor and stopped. Hisagi raised an eyebrow quizzically, before peeking over the blond's shoulder. For a moment he couldn't quite realize what Izuru was staring at, but when he finally did, his eyes widened.

'What the…' Hisagi's voice trailed off and all he could do after that was to blink. Repeatedly.

'What's wrong with you two?' Ikkaku exclaimed rather impatiently 'What are you stari-… WHOOOOAAAAA!'

The last part, which was shouted rather loudly, was actually very much relevant. At the bottom of the corridor in the left there was a single door, which was slightly ajared. But more importantly – the door and half of the corridor from it towards the three shinigami - including the walls, the floor and the ceiling - were covered with a thick layer of solid ice and what seemed to be hoar-frost on the top of it.

The shinigamies though didn't have much time to ponder over it, since Ikkaku's impulsive shout seemed to had attracted the attention of the owner of the apartment. A second or so later the frozen door burst open, causing hundreds of big and small pieces of ice to fall on the floor. Hitsugaya's enraged voice cut through the cold air, making everybody jump:

'_**GET**_ OUT!'

Ikkaku, Hisagi and Kira didn't even have time to realize what was happening. A powerful wave of cold air sent them flying backwards and out of the apartment. They landed on their backs about six meters away from the front door. The front door in question slammed loudly and within seconds was covered with the same amount of ice as the one in the corridor, which pretty much meant it was not going to open easily anymore.

For a couple of seconds the three didn't say anything, just sat up and stared silently at the apartment they'd been just tossed out of. Then Ikkaku scratched the back of his neck and stood up with a sigh:

'That went well, I think…' he announced, earning lethal glares from the other two. Sweatdropping, the bald one folded his arms in front of his chest before pointing out wisely 'It could be much worse. For example… We could be the ones instead o that front door, ne?'

Before Kira and Hisagi had time to reply, they felt a familiar reiatsu surrounding them and Rangiku's shapely figure popped in front of them.

'Hi…' Matsumoto greeted, giving them a rather weak smile 'Just shunpoed away from the office… I think captain Kenji will be off for quite some time, so I decided to drop by and see what's going on.'

'Well, you're just in time, then. An angry prodigy just threw us out of his apartment…' Hisagi murmured, standing up.

'… After we entered it without permission…' Madarame added as a matter-of-factly.

Matsumoto groaned, before glaring at Ikkaku.

'Way the go, Madarame!' she snapped irritably and ran a hand through her hair 'This is exactly what I need. A even more irritated Hitsugaya...'

'Hey, Rangiku?' Hisagi asked suddenly, frowning slightly 'What's with you face?'

The woman blinked with confusion, before realizing what he was talking about and blushing faintly.

'Oh, that?' she laughed nervously, which turned out to be somewhat painful for someone with swollen split lip and bruised cheekbone 'I sort of fell. It's no biggy. Don't worry about it.'

No one replied. The three men were just looking at her distrustfully and a bit too seriously for her taste. She felt like a child that had done something bad and was now standing in front of his uncles or parents or whatever sort of very strict relatives. She had tried to hide the bruise as much as tons of make-up and make-up skills allowed it, but as it seemed it was still not hard to see that she was hurt.

When they kept on with being silent, she sighed tiredly and with a roll of her eyes demanded:

'Go home. All of you. I'll take care of Toushiro.'

* * *

**A/N: Mmm, yeah, chapter 8th done. It's chapter 8, right? Uhhhh, yeah, it is. XD Well, thanks for reading. I appreciate if you review.**


	9. Chapter 9

The sound of broken glass filled the cold air as Matsumoto casually stepped back from the window. She looked at the large hole in the middle and slightly tilted her head to a side, wondering whether she could get through without cutting herself on the small sharp pieces that were left on the frame. She bit her lower lip thoughtfully and started tapping the tip of her sheathed sword on her shoulder.

Even though she was completely aware of how unhappy Hitsugaya was going to be about the broken window, she also knew that this was the only way inside his apartment at that moment. The front door was permanently stuck and no pushing, pulling, kicking or punching was going to open it. Sadly, Toushiro was nothing less than a pro when it came to freezing things.

_Oh, well… And here we go…_

The moment Matsumoto got inside the apartment, her teeth begun to chatter and she instinctively braced herself in pathetic attempt to warm her body. It was so cold she felt one hell of a difficult breathing normally. Letting out a low snort, she reached to the next cheerful conclusion: there was no light in the room, aside from the one that came from the improvised entrance of a broken window she had just created. From what she could see, everything :the floor, the walls, the ceiling and the furniture, was covered with ice and hoar-frost. Wooden pieces of broken tables and chairs lied still and whiten from the releases of Hitsugaya's reiatsu in her legs. She could see small hollows in the walls where objects had been crushed in what seemed to be terrible anger outburst and all that simply made her heart sink. From what she knew about Toushiro, he wasn't one to destroy carefully arranged household goods. She couldn't even imagine him doing so. It was surrealistic, creepy, horrifying. And it could only mean one thing – he was broken himself.

She made a few careful steps inside, looking around with growing horror in her widened blue eyes. She could feel the steadfast leaking of reiatsu and it was starting to really frighten her. This place… it was like a friggin…

…_plain of ice._

She shuddered. God, her whole being told her to turn around and run. This place was dead. This place was empty, sinking into darkness, pain and despair. She felt as if it was going to draw her in, engulf her whole. She felt as if she was in some sort of wicked nightmare and she couldn't wake up…

…But…

... Even though…

Rangiku couldn't leave. Not until she found Hitsugaya. Not until she spoke to him and cleared things out. She hadn't broken that window for nothing, now had she?

Matsumoto walked towards the slightly ajared door in front of her and with somewhat difficulty because of the ice and hoar-frost that was covering everything managed to push it enough to get through. At that point she found herself in a dark empty corridor, looking just as creepy as the room she had just left. She frowned slightly and breathed out on her stark fingers to warm them as much as that was possible, while wondering what to do next. Did she have to call him? Or just silently continue sneaking around like a thief? Either option didn't sound very good for her health.

As she made a step or two forward, she suddenly felt the still air behind her back move. In what seemed to be less than a second, she felt something hit the back of her knees, before landing on the hard ice-covered floor. The strange sound of a sword, being unsheathed rang through the painfully silent corridor and before she knew it, Matsumoto had also unsheathed Haineko, quickly lifting it before her to block the blade that a pale white hand aimed at her neck.

'What are you doing here?' Hitsugaya's voice asked and she felt the tiny whiff of a warm breath grazing the shell of her ear. Matsumoto tried to push Hyourinmaru away, as it was quite uncomfortable the way the blade was only separated from her skin by her own zanpakuto, but ended up with no success. His grip was firm and unyielding.

'I just want to talk…' she answered shifting uncomfortably. A low growl sounded behind her back.

'It's too late for talking.' He answered softly, the words sounded as if they escaped the lips of an exhausted person, that didn't want to live any longer, who just wished to fade away like a shade and sink into blissful Lithe. Cold slender white fingers tightened around the hilt of the dragon sword in what seemed to be some sort of a pitiful attempt to release the pain and anger that was burning inside of him and behind her back, he squeezed his eyes shut.

'Don't say that. If you just…'

'Matsumoto, don't start this again…'

'Oh, for God's sake! Listen to me!'

'…No.'

'No?'

'Please, Matsumoto, I don't want to hear it… I don't want to; not anymore.' and with an almost imperceptible sigh he loosened the pressure on Heineko 'Just… leave…'

Matsumoto's expression hardened and she pushed Hyourinmaru away, getting on her feet and turning around to face the young captain, her zanpakuto pointed directly at him. Before her stood the slim and what seemed to be slightly slumped form of Hitsugaya Toushiro, wearing thin white shirt, white trousers and barefooted on the ice-covered floor. With those clothes, way too unwarming for the temperature in the apartment he resembled a little wandering ghost with big aqua eyes, glued on the tip of Rangiku's weapon.

'No.' she replied firmly 'I won't go until you hear me out!'

He was silent for a moment, then, when he finally spoke, his voice was low and dead serious, colder than any ice and frost his powers could create.

'I'm warning you' he begun, eyes still locked on Heineko 'Leave, lieutenant.'

Matsumoto's frown only deepened.

'No. You're going to listen to me first!' she retorted, not even a trace of hesitation in her words.

Hitsugaya slowly lifted his gaze from the sword to look her in the eye. Teal met ocean blue for a second or so, before he vanished and reappeared behind her back.

'Then I guess I'll just have to chase you out of my apartment.' He said softly and just as she turned around, he slashed Hyourinmaru at her feet, making her instinctively jump backwards. She gave him a very puzzled look, not really expecting such a reaction from him, and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off when he charged at her, zanpakutos clashing and at the same time his strength making her slip towards the door she had just come from.

'Damn it, Hitsugaya, why do you have to be so fucking stubborn?' she hissed as she pushed him away from her. She knew well enough that he was holding back from the very start, from the very first time he actually appeared behind her and brought his sword to her neck. If he hadn't, she would've been already outside, through a big Matsumoto-shaped hole in the wall. Every each one of the blows he aimed at her were very carefully sized up so that she could get away in time, but still be forced to slowly step back. Matsumoto wasn't stupid. She understood what he was striving for and it irritated her beyond believable.

'Well, if you think very seriously about it, you'll realize that it is _you_ who won't leave me be!' he snapped back, aiming at her feet once again. Jumping back, Rangiku glared at him as she realized the edge of the ajared door was already against her back.

'You want to be alone so badly?' she growled, slipping through the ajared door and into the room with the broken window to dodge a slash that was aimed precisely at her head.

'Well, as a matter of fact, I had to learn the hard way that sometimes solitude is a lot healthier for you than being with someone else!' Hitsugaya hissed, coming after her. Matsumoto let out a low growl as she eyed Hyourinmaru and lifted her own zanpakuto in a defense stance.

'And what are you planning to do? Stay here in your ice barricade for the rest of your life?' she asked, raising an eyebrow. He made a step or two towards her, the light from the window allowing her to see him more clearly. And the sight wasn't exactly the happiest to witness. The truth was that he looked like there was no blood running through his veins. Snowy-pale hair and skin, thin deadly-white lips, limpid eyes looking bigger than usual, bare feet on the ice floor showing no signs of discomfort. He just looked like…

…his body was made of the very same element he controlled. He looked so... unreal, so unhuman...

'No…' Hitsugaya replied softly, eyes lowering 'Just a day or two more. Then… I'll leave work.'

The last statement made Matsumoto's heart skip a beat and her eyes widen.

'What…?' she asked, her hands loosening their grip on the hilt of Haineko as she stared with growing horror at Hitsugaya's pale face. He wasn't looking at her, and it made it even harder to take in the realization.

'I just…' he begun, but the words never came out. Instead, a soft sigh escaped his lips and he shook his head slightly.

'B-but… where are you going to go?'

'I don't know. Maybe… maybe to the real world… maybe… Well, it doesn't really matter, does it?!' at that point he finally looked up, teal orbs now filled with a mix of anger and pain, his chest raising and falling rapidly 'I can't stay here. I can't deal with _this_ anymore! It's too hard!'

'So you're just going to give up!' Matsumoto shouted, anger rising in her voice as well. Hitsugaya's frown deepened.

'Well, it's not like I have anything to fight for! IT'S NOT LIKE I HAVE ANYTHING TO KEEP ME HERE!' he yelled.

'Maybe there is! MAYBE THERE IS, BUT YOU'RE TOO DAMN STUBBORN TO TRY AND SEE IT!' she yelled back 'LIKE A STUPID CHILD THAT DOESN'T EVEN WANT TO HEAR WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY AND JUST INSISTS ON WHAT HE HAS IN MIND!'

There was silence after that, cold, empty silence, broken only by the soft sound of the rain falling outside. They just stood there, teal against ocean blue, gazing at each other in the dead ice-covered room, half sinking into darkness. They didn't know how much time passed until Hitsugaya finally spoke, but it was a strange fact, that it felt like hours.

'Get out. Get out of here and out of my life!' He uttered softly, bringing Hyourinmaru in front of him 'Get out, or I'll make you!'

Matsumoto glared at him with all the strength and dignity she could master while her heart was proceeding to break into pieces.

_Get out of here and out of my life!_

Words could be so much more hurting than any weapon. Especially when they came from the beloved one…

As she lifted her own zanpakuto in front of her, she prepared for his next assault. And it came, shortly after.

She could see him approaching as if on a slowed down mode, her expression hardened and without warning she let go of the hilt of the sword. The weapon let out an odd sick screechy sound as it hit the ice-covered floor. With a one last glance at Hitsugaya, Rangiku simply dropped on her knees, head lowered and eyes closed as she waited for the hit to come.

…It never did.

Slowly and carefully, Matsumoto opened her eyes and lifted her head. In front of her stood Hitsugaya, his hand with the sword frozen in the mid-air so the tip was only an inch or two above her. She had never seen such look on his face. It was a bewilder, shocked and somewhat scared one, his unseeing eyes big, pupils extremely small. His breaths came out as short sharp gasps and his hand with the weapon was trembling.

Suddenly he dropped Hyourinmaru on the floor and before Matsumoto had time to say anything, grabbed her shoulders and shook her rather violently.

'WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?' He yelled right into her face 'WHY DIDN'T YOU MOVE? I COULD'VE KILLED YOU!'

'Well, WASN'T _THAT_ WHAT YOU WANTED!' she yelled back with equal fervour and a scowl that was a very big rival to his own. Slightly taken aback by her outburst Hitsugaya just stared blankly at her for a moment, then released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. As he easened his tight grip on her shoulders, his eye-lids slowly lowering to reveal more evidently thick black lashes, painfully contrasting to the color of his skin, he looked away.

'No…' he answered softly.

'Then you'll listen to me.' She insisted 'Because I'd rather die than know you left Seireitei without hearing me out.'

Letting go of her shoulders, Hitsugaya sighed and stepped back. He sheathed his sword and thoughtfully ran a hand through his silver locks, never looking her in the eye as he did so.

'I just… 'he bit his lower lip and shook his head 'I doubt this will change anything… But…'

'Please…' she whispered, pleading oceans of blue filled with timid hope. Hitsugaya glance at her with another soft sign and his shoulders slumped with surrender.

'Thank you…' Matsumoto allowed a small smile to form on her rosy lips as she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding in, before continuing 'I know what you're thinking, and I want you to know that I didn't do it, Toushiro…'

'Hitsugaya-taicho.' He corrected, scowling. She chose to ignore him.

'I did not spread the rumours. I know that it probably sounds very inconvenient, but I swear, it's true!'

'Why should I believe you!' he snapped, folding his arms in front of his chest.

'Because… ' Matsumoto paused for a seconds, thinking of an answer and when no rational one came to her mind, she decided to use a irrational 'Because you love me. And you know… That I would never do that to you. And I know what you are about to say! About the bet and everything… I think... Well, we all make mistakes, don't we? That's why we're people. We're not perfect. We do wrong. Make mistakes... And... Some of those mistakes are small and easy to forget, but others are big and stupid... Does that mean you don't deserve a second chance? Does that mean you don't deserve to try and fix what you did? Does it mean we don't deserve to try again...?' she stopped for a second, a small smile forming on her lips as she shook her head 'Everything… everything went so wrong for us, didn't it?'

'…Yes. Indeed.' Hitsugaya answered softly 'But… if it wasn't you, who was it?'

Matsumoto swallowed with some difficulty, before removing a lock or two from her eyes and replying:

'It doesn't matter, does it? Don't worry... In day or two everybody will forget and everything will be back to normal...'

She couldn't tell him. She just couldn't. If she did, he was going to go after Kenji, he was going to fight him, and she didn't want to even imagine the consequences.

Clearing her throat, Matsumoto lifted her face to continue, but the words never left her lips. His face caught her completely off guard. Hitsugaya, wide-eyed and with his lips slightly parted, was gazing at her like she had just grown a second head.

'What's with the… ' she begun, but stopped mid-sentance. Her eyes widened with realization. Jumping on her feet, she turned around, her palm covering the bruises on her face. She was such an idiot! Removing her hair from her eyes and never realizing that this and the extremelly little amount of light in the room were the only thing that kept her injuries away from his sight.

'Who did this to you?' he whispered, shock and confusion radiating from every sound he made.

'I-it's nothing… I-I… I just… fell…' she lamely tried to cover things up.

_OH, SHIT!_

Suddenly Hitsugaya grabbed her arm and spun her around, so she was once more facing him. This time, there was no trace of confusion and shock in his eyes, all that was left was cold hatred and anger.

'It was _him_, wasn't it?' he growled and before she had time to respond, her let go of her arm and stormed out of the oh-so-useful hole in the window. Terrified, Matsumoto tried to run after him with the great intention to put some senses into that thick head of his, but was prevented by a solid ice wall she managed to walk in and which, as a matter of fact, hadn't been there a moment ago.

'Great…' she murmured, glaring at the wall 'I'm gonna freeze my ass in here before he gets back… if he even does.'

* * *

Sorry if it's lame! And yeah, I didn't let her tell him she loved him... yet... Oh! And sorry for being so late! It's just as I thought my super-stressful week was over (for more information see 'Holiday In The Living World', latest chapter, at the bottom) my teacher gave us for homework to write an artical, which is not as easy as it sounds! It sucked all my time! And btw, the next chapter will be the last one. Or there will be one chapter and then an epilog. Well, do u want a happy ending cuz I can make it a tragedy, ya know..


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:_VERY. IMPORTANT! LOOK. HERE! _**Right. I have few things to say.

1. This is the final chapter. I hate myself for being so late, but this chapter is HUGE, so accept is as an apology of some sort. I suck on fighting scenes and I'm sorry if they are going to disappoint you, but I did my best. If some of you hadn't asked me to turn this into a full-fledges story, then there wouldn't have been fighting scenes and this would've been just a mere fluffly two-shot.

2. My beta hasn't checked this. Therefore there is a possibility of a huge amount to mistakes. Sorry about that. The reson why I didn't give it to my beta is that this story means much to me and we all know that betas always influence your look on the things more or less and I really wanted this to be my story COMPLETELY!

3. I plan on starting another fic soon. It's going to be a HitsuMatsu one, cuz it seems like for now I'm obsessed with the couple, but the way I've planned it, I think it'll turn out to be very interesting. It'll be Bleach music band sort of thing... many flashbacks, drama, some funny moments, romance and stuff. So if you like my style of writing aaaaand you want to see more, add me to your Author Alert. Some of you already have. Anyways, just saying.

4. Thank you for being with me this whole time, thank you everyone for reading and I'm thanking extremelly much to those who reviewed. Those reviews meant much for me and gave me strenght to continue. Literally. And I know there're many stories that suck in the end, I hope this one doesn't but then again - I can't tell with much certainty, for I'm the author. Also, for those who got tired of this fic and its lenght, I'm sorry, I could not make it any shorter.

Thank you for not being lazy and reading this. (bows) Here's the last chapter. Have fun.

* * *

Although the sky was still overcast with thick dark clouds and the biting wind was blowing hard, the rain had finally stopped, giving the inhabitants of Soul Society a reason to sigh with relief and direct hopeful gazes towards the sky, wishing for normal weather and no more terrible hailstorms or cloudbursts that carried the feeling of loneliness and despair. It was true that indeed, people couldn't stay indifferent to the emotions that radiated from the phenomenons, it made them feel somewhat lost, cold, empty… it made them crave for someone to be next to them at that same moment, it made them finally experience with full force what many of them had tried to hide or get rid of during the years – the desire to love... _and_ be loved back….

Even though, they were some individuals, who remained unaffected by all that. There were people, originally so frigid and cruel that the meaning of rain could not reach them. People, who carried only hatred, anger and ambition in their hearts. People… who were willing to hurt others just to get what they wanted…

People like the new captain of the tenth division.

With his zanpakuto unsheathed, Kenji stood on the top of a hill, far away from the town, his face cold and still as always. However, a foreign spark glowed in his dark eyes, carrying emotions he had hardly showed before…

Anticipation. Excitement. Bloodthirstiness.

Running his tongue over his teeth, Kenji let a small but rather smug smile form on his thin lips. He hadn't had a nice fight for such a long time, he found himself missing the feeling of crushing somebody else physically and mentally. Battling held its own irreplaceable charm, a drug for those who did not lose, a tingle they could not experience in any other way, an exotic taste with a high price they weren't able to order as often as they would like. To put it simply, for the newly fledged captain it was one of those little things that brought him pleasure… A passion he could say, both him and Zaraki shared, though in slightly different ways.

A whiff of slightly cooler air grazed the red-head's skin and he smirked.

'I've been waiting for you, captain Hitsugaya…' Kenji said calmly, eyes sill glued on the landscape in front of him. A soft growl sounded behind his back.

'Bastard…' Toushiro hissed, pale hand gripping tightly the hilt of his sword. Kenji let out a small lazy chuckle, before slowly stretching his arms and turning around to face the prodigy.

'Tell me, third division _taicho_, what did you come to fight for? Your honor or the woman?' the red-head asked in a mockingly avuncular manner. As an answer, Hitasugaya released a nice amount of reiatsu that turned the ground between the two in ice.

'Aaahhh!' Kenji nodded knowingly as he made few steps towards the diminutive shinigami 'I see. So it's the woman, isn't it? That's interesting...'

'Interesting?' Hitsugaya replied dryly, eyebrow rising.

'Well… She broke your heart, didn't she?' Kenji's lips formed a gloating smile as he eyed the boy in front of him up and down before adding 'I don't see any point in fighting for something that isn't even yours… And has never been in the first place…'

_Jackpot._

The red-head's smile grew wider as he watched with some sort of a sick satisfaction written all over his face the other captain's reaction. It was a silent, passive one, but it carried the whiff of utter pain and thousands of hot unshed tears in it. Hitsugaya just stood there for a couple of seconds, unable to move, with helplessly and somehow vulnerably widened jade eyes and involuntary parted pale lips.

'Oh, yes.' Kenji snickered, crossing his arms in front of his chest 'Truth hurts, doesn't it?'

Suddenly, Hitsugaya's face hardened and the expression that was there a moment ago disappeared without a trace, leaving only the one of cold determination.

'Look… This isn't about having and not having... You want to ruin my reputation, my life? Fine! But I've warned you…' the boy begun, voice low and slightly hoarse as he lifted his zanpakuto and pointed it at Kenji 'Not to touch Matsumoto… And you did a great mistake to overlook what I told you…'

* * *

Overwhelmed by anger, irritation and growing worry, Matsumoto punched the solid surface of the ice wall in front of her. _Dammit! _If only she had been more careful! Hitsugaya would've been still here, not god knew where, possibly after Kenji, and this thing that was preventing her from escaping would've still been a broken window with a hole to pass through. She growled, glaring at it the same way she'd glare at her worst enemy on the battle field. The wall responded with cold composure and irritating stillness.

'Why you…' she begun and landed a powerful kick on it – a kick that succeeded only in making her slip and fall on her back. She groaned before rolling to a side and looked at the place she had dropped Haineko some time ago while fighting Toushiro. She would've used it if it hadn't been stuck on the floor under a hill of ice that had been most likely created by Hitsugaya on the following purpose – to keep her away from him.

The thought made her frown as she stood up again to gaze at the wall thoughtfully. Running a hand through her soft locks, Matsumoto bit her lower lip in wonder. What was she going to do now? Stay here and just wait? That was definitely not an option. She had to figure out a way to get out of this place and find Toushiro and fast. She didn't want even to think about what could happen to him if he fought Kenji. That new captain was no someone who you could trust – he had no honor, deserved no trust and was very much willing to play dirty. Hitsugaya on the other hand… he was precisely the opposite. And maybe exactly his pride and honesty was going to get in his way to defeat someone like the red-head.

* * *

The sound of metal hitting metal rang through the cold air again and again and again, caring the whiff of the battle and the blood that was about to be spilled. The weapons clashed, sliced and slashed, blades gracefully performing their deathly dance, a beautiful art on its own. This was not a usual fight for Soul Society… This was not an ordinary thing to witness. Captains from different divisions did not tend to duel, not to mention duel with such ferocity and seething anger. The spiritual pressure around them was increasing fast along with the force of the blows; the layer of ice on the ground was becoming thicker, the wind –stronger, dodging the assaults - harder.

'Mmm, aren't you one tough little dragon…' Kenji noticed, pushing away Hyourinmaru and grinning at Hitsugaya gloatingly 'This is going to be more fun than I thought…'

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed:

'You're sick…' the boy hissed through tightly clenched teeth. Kenji raised both eyebrows and shook his head with amusement.

'At least I'm not a pathetic excuse for a captain, a brat who wants to play with the adults…'

'I am _not_ pathetic!'

'Oh, yeah?' Kenji let out a loud snicker, before suddenly rushing forward and slashing at Hitsugaya's head. The boy's eyes went wide as he blocked the assault with his own katana and tried pushing his enemy away. However, this was not an easy task to accomplish, for if nothing else, the red-head's brutal force was incredible.

'If not… then tell me, third division taicho…' Kenji whispered, eyes widening and smirk growing with some sort of a wicked satisfaction as he leaned over the crossed blades near Hitsugaya's face 'Aren't you the only captain with not enough strength for a complete bankai?'

The words did their job and hit the right nerve. The boy's face lost any sort of expression for a moment, before pure anger twisting his features.

'DAMN YOU!' Hitsugaya yelled before pushing the red-head away from him, then jumping above his opponent's head and performing an attack from the open air. Kenji managed to get away just in time by jumping back, but the force of the youngster's assault created a large crater into the solid ground and a cloud of ice dust. It wasn't long after as the silver-haired one leapt out of the pit and slashed at his opponent's chest. The hit was blocked and pushed away in no time and the red-head quickly returned the favor with series of swift and powerful attacks. Fortunately, Hitsugaya's strongest points were his incredible speed and amazing agility and he succeeded in dodging all the blows and slipping in behind Kenji's back.

'What the…?' the red-head begun as his eyes focused on the empty space in front of him. His mind registered the lack and what it meant within a second and he begun turning around to meet Hitsugaya's assault but nevertheless it wasn't fast enough. Although Kenji did manage to partially block the blow, the blade of Hyourinamu still cut him in the left shoulder. Splashes of hot blood landed in a deathly contrast on the white gauzy ice-covered ground.

'Hmm…' Kenji glanced at his wound with a frown, before his eyes drifted to Hitsugaya 'Maybe I did underestimate you, boy… I don't remember the last time somebody managed to cut me.'

'Get used to it.' Hitsugaya snarled 'Because this isn't the only cut you're going to get today.'

* * *

Ikakku gulped as he and Hisagi approached the front door of Hitsugaya's apartment.

'I really don't think this is a good idea…' the bald guy noted 'If they find out we're eavesdropping…'

'They won't.' Hisagi assured him calmly as he leaned close to the frozen door with a serious and concentrated frown on his face. Ikakku didn't come close to him for a couple of seconds and just stood a meter or so away with his hands crossed in front of his chest, but eventually the curiosity took over and he made a step forward.

'Do you hear anything?' the bald guy whispered.

'Not really…'

'Not even a little bit?'

'Well, there is some noise…'

'Like what?'

'I don't know. Just some noise.'

'Come on! Try to identify it!'

'Well… It's like… footsteps. Approaching.'

There was a short pause, then the two of them glanced at each other.

'_Footsteps_?' they both questioned in unison. At that point a loud bang came from inside the apartment, which made Hisagi pull away harshly and stare at the door puzzlingly. Another bang followed right after. And another one. And another one.

'Doesn't it sound like someone is trying to break this thing from the inside?' Ikakku suggested, raising an eyebrow. Hisagi chose to eye his friend oddly.

'_Ikakku? Is that you_?' a female voice shouted from the apartment, making the two jump startled.

'Y-yeah… Uh… Rangiku?' Madarame stepped forward carefully, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

'_Yes! OH, YES! I'm SO GLAD you're here! Ikakku, get me out of here_!'

* * *

Clutching his now bleeding side, Hitsugaya glared at his enemy. Kenji simply answered him with the same. They were both wounded now, with small cuts and bruises on random places and one serious injury they had inflicted on each other during the fight.

'This is taking a bit too long, don't you think?' Kenji said with a small smirk 'How about we just get to the real thing…'

'The _'real thing_'?' Hitsugaya repeated, raising an eyebrow. The red-head let out a low chuckle and shook his head somewhat condescendingly.

'Why don't you show me what your pathetic incomplete bankai is capable of?' he suggested, eyes gloatingly widening for a second before returning to their original size. Hitsugaya snarled.

'I don't need a complete bankai to defeat _you_!' the boy hissed through tightly gritted teeth. In return Kenji chuckled again and pointed the tip of his katana at Toushiro.

'Show me then.' The red-head suggested, his voice low and calm as his spiritual pressure started to increase. Hitsugaya's glare hardened for a moment as an odd thrill, something like a strange kind of warning caused by his intuition, crept up his spine. He couldn't say what was wrong, just that something told him bankaiing wasn't a good idea. It told him that Kenji wanted him to do that for a reason. And a reason that wouldn't be according to Hitsugaya's liking.

'Bankai.' Kenji sang merrily and within a few seconds thick black armour with sharp spikes covered his shoulders, chest and back. The katana blade started glowing in dull white color, then it begun to change along with the handle. The metal seemed to lose shape and become a changeable water-like material for a second – fidgeting and twisting – while the handle seemed to prolong and become rounder. And just like that, seconds later, Kenji wasn't holding a sword anymore – but a halberd with a huge curved blade and long lacquered red shaft.

'What? Aren't you going to bankai?' Keni asked, raising an eyebrow at Hitsugaya, who was still weighting his options. Seeing the boy's obvious hesitation, the red-head decided to simply take advantage of it and charged at Toushiro. Caught completely off guard, the young prodigy's eyes widened and he jumped out of the blade's way rather clumsily comparing to his usual litheness. He met Kenji's next blow more prepared but against the heavy violent assaults of a bankaied shinigami the boy knew he had no chance. The slashes were extremely hard to block or dodge, every each one of them was pushing him backwards and for less than a minute series of new cuts covered the silver-haired captain's body. Growling with irritation, Hitsugaya squeezed the hilt of Hyourinmaru. He had no choice.

'Bankai!'

A large gloating grin formed on Kenji's lips as he observed with growing satisfaction the way the pair of graceful wings, the long pliable tail and the elegant dragon-like body of ice fused with Hitsugaya's pale flesh.

'Good boy.' The red-head nodded to himself.

Hitsugaya glanced at the ice petals above his head and frowned. From the moment he had bankaied everything had turned into some sort of a ticking clock… It did every time, unfortunately, since he was too young to have a complete bankai. It was often troublesome. If he didn't win this battle on time, he was, to put it simply, doomed.

'Fine…' Hitsugaya hissed through clenched teeth 'Let's get this over with.'

Kenji's eyes narrowed as observed closely how his opponent lifted his sword horizontally and _something_ begun to form in front of him. It was seconds later when the body and head of a giant creature of ice and water opened his shining blood-freezing jaws and filled the air with his quaking roar and frosty breath. Glossy crimson orbs were focused on the red-head, filled with the dangerous anticipation and the refined wrath of an impatient heavenly being. In one short second the dark mantel of clouds in the sky became even thicker and the biting winter wind was back once again, carrying the feeling of nearing death and utter emptiness…

'Would you look at that…' Kenji murmured, lips slightly parting as he examined with quiet admiration the enormous scaly body of the mythical beast and the unfathomable depths of its opened mouth 'So this is it… this is the famous Hyourinmaru…'

Suddenly, the ice dragon let out a long loud growl and before Kenji could even comprehend completely what was going on, he rushed towards him. The sound of a crash filled the air, along with fine ice dust, leaving Hitsugaya in a short ignorance of what the assault had caused. It was merely seconds later when the wind finally cleaned his view…

'Ah…' a voice noted calmly 'Not bad… Not bad at all, Hitsugaya-taicho.'

Hitsugaya's eyes widened at the scene that was reveled in front of him. A tall wall of ice spikes had grown out of the frozen ground, as it seemed, to protect the new captain of the tenth division from Hyourinmaru's attack.

'Wha-?' Toushiro begun, blinking with confusion. Was it just him or was his own element actually turning against him?

'Oh, yes…' Kenji softly replied as he walked out of from behind the wall with a smug smirk on his thin lips 'My zanpakuto is capable of creating spikes from any non-leaving material it gets in touch with. Works very well with rocks and stuff, but I think ice would do just fine as well.'

Before Hitsugaya had time to understand the true meaning of this, the red-head lifted his weapon and crashed it down on the ice-covered ground in front of him. The next thing the younger captain knew was that within a second something long and sharp grew out from under his feet and made an almost successful attempt to turn him into a shish kebob. The spike was quickly followed by another one that was obviously aiming at his back… and another one… and another one…

'What the hell…?' Toushiro yelled, quickly rising above the ground so he could be away from the dangerous area. He glared at the forest of sharp ice spikes, before his eyes drifted to Kenji.

'You don't honestly think you can beat me with that, do you?' Hitsugaya asked, raising an eyebrow. The red-head opted to simply shrug.

'Go ahead then, attack me, _boy_.' Kenji replied, consciously emphasizing on the last word. Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes and let out a low throaty growl through his tightly gritted teeth.

'Fine…'

Without losing a second, Hitsugaya gripped the hilt of Hyourinmaru tightly and bore down upon his opponent. Kenji didn't move, just calmly prepared himself to meet the blow.

'That's it… come closer…'

Weapon clashed loudly into each other, releasing a wave of air resembling the one of an atomic bomb, but just as Hitsugaya pushed away Kenji's zanpakuto and was about to deliver a fast second hit, a sharp ice spike grew from under the boy's feet and almost stabbed him. Hitsugaya's eyes widened as he pulled away as quickly as he could, only to be forced to once again go forward so he wouldn't be impaled on another picket. One after another, in impossible speed, they continued to pop out from random places and prevent Toushiro from actually combating. Finding himself in a situation where he could do nothing except for trying to dodge the products of Kenji's partial control over his own element, Toushiro once again rose above the ground.

What was Kenji doing? Was he trying to prolong the battle as much as possible or something? If the continued like that it could take forever to…

Hitsugaya's eyes widened with realization.

No, it wouldn't take forever…

Simply because Hitsugaya's bankai was incomplete. His time was limited.

* * *

Ikakku rubbed his palms together with a very concentrated look across his face, then took a deep breath and picked up his sword. He eyed the frozen door carefully, then brushed the tip of his zanpakuto against the ice-filled slit of the door.

'_You think you can do it_?' Matsumoto's voice rang from inside Hitsugaya's apartment.

'Yup.' Ikakku nodded 'The effect of Hitsugaya-taicho's reiatsu is much weaker now. The ice doesn't contain the former unnatural solidity. Now, let's get you out…'

Ikakku nodded to himself for what seemed to be some sort of self-assurance, before finally giving a powerful push on the sword. The blade thrust through the ice with a cracking sound and created a rain of tiny white snowflakes. Eyeing the result carefully, Madarame decided the job was done fine, then changed his position to the side of the zanpakuto.

'Right. Now we use it as a lever…' he murmured, nodding to Hisagi. The latter unfolded his arms and approached his friend, taking his place next to the baldy.

'Alright... Now push!'

Another cracking sound filled the air, this time much louder than the first one. The ice in the slit started to fall on the floor in the form of big and small pieces and after another strong push, the door flung open, surrounded by a cloud of snow dust.

'Good job, boys!' Matsumoto said as she walked out of the darkness of the apartment, looking around 'Now… I need both of you to go find some help and then search for Hitsugaya-taicho.'

Hisagi and Ikakku exchanged worried glances.

'What's going on?' Madarame asked carefully. In respond she looked down for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully.

'I'm afraid what's going on is that our little blizzard is fighting my new captain at the moment. And we have to stop them.' At that point her hand intuitively reached for the Soul Slayer that was supposed to be hanging next to her hip. Not finding it there, she looked back at the apartment 'Help me get my zanpakuto back and then do what I told you to.'

'What are _you_ going to do?' Hisagi asked, cocking an eyebrow. Matsumoto slowly redirected her serious gaze towards him.

'I'm going to try and find Toushiro as soon as possible… I can't wait for the help.'

* * *

A low and almost imperceptible moan escaped Hitsugaya's lips and he clenched is teeth as the pain shot through his whole body. Glaring at the spike that had gone straight through his right shoulder, the boy tried to ignore the terrible burning sensation and lifted his sword after tossing it to his other hand. He slashed at the ice stem and pulled back just in time to dodge another growing picket while the rest of the peculiar weapon was still piercing his body.

'Dammit…' the young captain groaned and reached to pull out the spike, but was cut off when Kenji delivered a blow that barely missed his stomach. Toushiro narrowed his eyes as he tried to return the attack. However, that turned out to be rather difficult as ice spikes popped out on random places, getting in the way of his attacks and also forcing him to make impossible manoeuvres so he wouldn't get stabbed.

'Are you alright, Hitsugaya-taicho? You don't look so well…' Kenji pointed out with mock concern as he dodged a slash. For that same slash, Toushoro was yet once again forced to pull back and increase the distance between him and the new captain and all that only by a single picket of ice. Growling, the boy grabbed the spike that was sticking out of his own shoulder and was by now dripping with hot blood and jerked it out. Immediately, the burning pain, similar to the one he had felt during the stabbing shot through his whole body, making him squeeze his eyes shut and bite his bottom lip to swallow another moan. He didn't even have time to recover as Kenji attacked him. Hitsugaya lifted Hyourinmaru in front of himself for protection, but his weakened and slightly trembling right hand couldn't comprehend the blow as well as it usually would and he was sent flying backwards, his back hitting the trunk of a tree. Of course, he wasn't left to just lie there and the second his body slumped against the tree in question, the frozen ground underneath him cracked and he had to roll to a side to get away from the ever so persistent spike.

'Tired yet?' Kenji asked, cocking a brow as Hitsugaya rose above the ground with his left hand squeezing the wound on his right shoulder. Toushiro didn't reply, just let go of the gash and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his blood-covered hand. Then he glanced up at where the ice petals were hanging. The second one was already half the way gone.

'The clock is ticking, lil fella…' Kenji sang, smirking up at the boy from his place on the ground. Hitsugaya's frown deepened as he unintentionally bared his perfectly lined white teeth.

'Screw you!' Toushiro growled, narrowing his aqua eyes. An amused smile spread across Kenji's face and he was just about to reply when the sound of steps running towards them came clearly from somewhere behind him.

'Seems like we have company…' the red-head murmured absently. It was then that Matsumoto jumped out of from behind a group of trees, panting. She lifted her pale blue eyes and looked around. Immediately her gaze was locked on Hitsugaya and she bit her bottom lip with worry.

'Ah, Barbie, so nice to see you!' Kenji greeted, eyeing the woman calmly. However, she didn't respond him as she was too busy staring at Toushiro and how half of his clothes were soaking with blood.

'Hitsugaya-taicho, I beg you, stop this!' she yelled, making the boy raise both eyebrows in surprise.

'Matsumoto…?' he begun, frowning slightly. The sentence, however, remained unfinished for Hitsugaya wasn't completely sure what he wanted to ask… So he just stood there, staring at her and she stared back.

Raising an eyebrow, Kenji shifted his gaze from Rangiku to the young prodigy.

'Well, isn't this just adorable…' he murmured, eyelids lowering wearily. Well, if Barbie wasn't one hell of a joy-killer… And here he was just starting to have real fun with the boy.

Kenji narrowed his eyes.

He was so not going to let her interfere.

Matsumoto couldn't help it and let out a small whimper of pain as someone shunpoed behind her and a large hand grabbed her hair, roughly pulling her head back. Immediately, she reached for her zanpakuto, but Kenji was faster and before she could even touch Haineko, he had already grabbed the sword and tossed it to a side.

'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU BASTARD! LET HER GO!' Hitsugaya yelled, eyes wide as he watched Rangiku desperately trying to break free. Kenji just lifted his gaze from her for a moment to give the boy a small condescending smile, before once more the deadly black orbs locked on his captive.

'So…' the red-head begun 'This is in fact the woman because of whom you are here now? The reason why you're fighting? This… wench?' at that point he pulled harder on Matsumoto's hair, earning another whimper of pain.

'She has NOTHING to do with this! It's between you and me! Release her!' Hitsugaya insisted, frown deepening and eyes sparkling with growing anger.

Kenji let out a low wheezy chuckle as he eyed Matsumoto from nose to tail carefully.

'Oh, but that's not true, now is it, Hitsugaya-taicho?' he purred softly 'It's ALL about her. All about gorgeous little Barbie… and her power over you…' his smile grew into a dangerous smirk as he looked up at the boy once again 'I've been wondering… how does it feel… to finally attain the forbidden fruit… And then lose it. Along with everything else…'

Hitsugaya didn't reply, which only made Kenji snigger.

'Well, she _is_ beautiful now, isn't she…' he noticed, his eyes now lingering along her exposed beautifully long neck and lower… 'I can't even blame a little boy like you… for falling for her… However, it's still a mystery for me the fact that you actually dared to tell her that… Because honestly, if you did that, then you had at least a tiny bit of hope that she'd return your feelings… And that's simply absurd.'

As Matsumoto caught a glimpse of Hitsugaya's face, she thought her heart would shatter into pieces right there and then. His features had softened drastically from the hard unforgivable glare and the deep frown, he was biting his lower lip in what seemed to be attempt to suppress some sort of unwanted emotion and his big aqua eyes, filled with hurt and sorrow, were staring down at the ground…

…She swallowed with some difficulty.

He looked so broken…

'No…' she begun quietly, for her voice had suddenly weakened 'No…' she swallowed again, summoning her strength NO! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! Hitsugaya-taicho, I l-…Mphf!'

Matsumoto's eyes widened when suddenly a pair of lips brutally crushed into hers. She tried to pull away, but the hand in her hair prevented her from doing so and when she attempted to struggle and push _him_ away, he just tightened his grip on the strawberry locks, giving her a painful remainder of who was the captive.

_LET ME GO! _She wanted to scream but with his mouth on hers that was simply impossible and all she could do was purse her lips as much as she could so he wouldn't be able to deepen the kiss. And no matter how hard she tried to hold back, somehow tears still made their way under the lashes of her tightly squeezed eyes. God, she felt so helpless, so humiliated, so… guilty…

After what seemed to be one horrible century, Kenji finally pulled away and before she had time to do anything, threw her to the ground, wiping his mouth with his other hand in the process.

'Well, Hitsugaya-taicho,' Kenji begun, letting a smug smirk form on his lips as he eyed the shocked boy whose eyes were wide and unseeing and whose pale lips were slightly parted from the shock 'I believe you'll have to get used to see this woman with others starting from now… Especially if you intend to continue being a captain…'

With that done and said, the red-head glanced at Matsumoto, who was helping herself up on her elbows and knees. Tears were still quietly streaming down her cheeks as she intuitively reached with trembling hand to fix her completely messed up hair. Her eyes were locked on the ground. She felt so ashamed for letting this happen...

What made her look up in fact was a strange cracking sound that came from all four direction and which was followed shortly after by appearance of tall ice spikes that surrounded her and left her in some sort of a round cell. Matsumoto's eyes widened and she quickly jumped on her feet, frantically searching for some sort of a way out. However, without her zanpakuto she could do nothing to brake free from the prison.

'Right.' Kenji nodded to himself 'I hope we won't be interrupted anymore. Now let's get back to business, ne, captain?' he looked at Hitsugaya with expectantly raised brows.

What he saw was a pair of teal eyes, shining with utter ire, clenched fists with whitened knuckles and a body that was shaking madly for the unleashed emotions. The red-head smirked. That was what he was aiming for. The boy wasn't going to retrieve now. There simply wasn't a motivation stronger then anger and anger, born from love.,

…However, provoking Hitsugaya Toushiro like that was a terrible mistake and Kenji was yet to realize that…

* * *

'What's going on?' Ikakku asked, stopping dead on his tracks.

'Seems like Hitsugaya-taicho's reiatsu to me…' Kyouraku pointed out, raising a brow.

'Gah, the spiritual pressure is squashing…' Hisagi murmured, eyes widening. The rest of the group let out some pretty inarticulate sounds in agreement.

'Well, we have a direction, don't we? Let's hurry now…' Unohanna suggested, calmly as always.

* * *

Matsumoto blinked a couple of times as she stared wide-eyed at Hitsugaya. The overwhelming spiritual power around him seemed to be pulsing and growing like a giant beast that was beginning to awake. The saturated teal colour of his eyes had faded to pale icy-blue one and the sky above his head had become darker then ever, thundering dangerously. And God, she felt scared. She felt scared to death by this young boy's power, by the cold determination in those irises and mostly by his wrath that, fortunately, was not directed to her. For the first time, Matsumoto realized that she had never, ever seen her former captain truly angry…

'Let's end this, Kenji! Once and for all!' Hitsugaya yelled, successfully outshouting the thunder and the strong wind, which was by now bending the trees 'One. Last. Blow. All or nothing!'

Kenji smirked.

'Okay, boy, let's play by your rules!' the red-head agreed with a small nod and lifted his halberd in front of him 'Show me what you've got!'

Glancing up at the ice-petals, Hitsugaya had to note to himself that, indeed, he had time for just one single strike. Then he looked at Matsumoto and his features softened.

'I advise you to bend down, Rangiku-san.' He said gently, before once again redirecting his gaze towards his opponent.

'Toushiro…' she whispered, biting her lower lip in worry. He didn't hear her, though. The word sank in the unforgivable sound of the wind and the thundering. The next she knew was that the both captain were shouting the names of their zanpakutos and were preparing for their last attack.

What followed next resembled a powerful atomic explosion… A mixture of snow, pieces of ice, dirt, branches and such flew in all four directions, Matsumoto's ice cell was shattered into bits and she was also sent flying backwards until she hit the trunk of a large old tree. Then everything went black…

* * *

'Matsumoto… Matsumoto… Wake up!' a voice called softly and she felt a wave of cool air graze her skin. Groaning, she slowly opened her eyes. For a second or so everything was blurry but that didn't last long and soon she found herself staring into a pair of concerned aqua eyes.

'Hitsugaya-taicho!' she shouted and sat up abruptly. Looking around, she realized she had been lying on the ground and he was kneeling next to her.

'Did you…?' she begun, but was cut of when she saw Kenji prone meters away with his zanpakuto lying broken in halves nearby. He was not dead, she could tell, but he was wounded and unconscious. And he had lost.

'I'm glad you're alright…' Hitsugaya said softly and a small tired smile appeared on his face 'You passed out for a couple of minutes' at that point a soft sigh escaped his lips and for Matsumoto's surprise, he closed his eyes and let his head drop on her shoulder.

'Toushiro…' she whispered with worry. Eyeing him carefully she realized his clothes were soaking with blood, sweat and dirt. Too much blood… Way too much…

'I'm so tired…' the words spoken so softly, they painfully resembled a sigh.

'Shhh, it's alright…' she said, gently wrapping both hands around him and pulling him closer to her body 'Everything will be alright… Just… wait a little bit more… Help is coming… I hope…'

'Matsumoto…' he shifted a bit and a small pained moan escaped his lips.

She bit her lower lip with worry and reached for his hand. Taking it, she gasped. It was so cold! Even colder then the usual coolness of his skin… Deadly cold…

Only then did she catch a glimpse of his back. There was a long freshly cut deep gash across it.

'Toushiro, you…' she begun, but was stopped as the cold pale hand gently pulled away from her own and the tips of his slender fingers brushed against her lips to keep her quiet.

'I'm fine…' he replied weakly and lifted his face to look at her 'I'm sorry for everything, Rangiku…'

'What are you…?'

'I had to listen to you when I had the chance…'

'Toushiro… you…'

'I wanted it so badly, but I didn't anyways… Because I was foolish… And look where we are now…' his fingertips moved slowly to the side of her face to graze upon the bruised skin ever so lightly before dropping weakly 'This wouldn't have happened if I had listened… It's my entire fault…'

'Please, don't say that…'

'I love you so much… I love you so damn much… yet I was too proud to forgive you… Now I beg _you_ for forgiveness…'

'You… You have nothing to be sorry about…' she replied, blinking back the tears that were threatening to leave her eyes. His voice was becoming quieter with every passing moment and she could tell he was feeling pain even when breathing…'Just hold on, ok? I'm here. I won't go anywhere…' at that point she buried her nose in the soft silver locks, squeezing her eyes shut 'I love you… So don't leave me now… Don't leave me…'

Matsumoto felt him shift beneath her as the three magic words finally left her lips and reached him. She pulled away and once again took his hand, giving it a light squeeze he had no strength to return. As she settled his head on her shoulder so she could look him in the face, she realized his eyes were just barely opened and his lips and face had lost any trace of colorfulness. She attempted to lift him in her arms and try carrying him but as soon as she did that he let out a loud pained moan and she gave up, scared to increase the bleeding.

'Oh, God, Toushiro… Stay with me…' she whispered, trying to bite back the raising panic and fear in her voice. A weak smile slowly formed on his lips as he half opened his eyes to look at her.

'I'm… just a child, Rangiku… Don't forget that… You can have anyone…' he replied. Her eyes widened. Hitsugaya never, _ever_ called himself a child. _Dammit!_ Things were terribly wrong…

'But I want you!' she insisted as tears finally begun sliding down her cheeks. That actually made Hitsugaya frown. Although this frown was a ghost compared to the way he usually did that.

'Don't cry, Beautiful… Don't…' and with that his features softened and his eyes closed completely, body going limp. For a moment Matsumoto felt as if her heart had stopped beating.

'No…' she whispered, shaking the boy a bit 'No, no, no, no… NO! NO, DON'T YOU DARE DIE! TOUSHIRO! DAMMIT! TOUSHIRO! TOUSHIROOO!' at that point she was already losing it. She was screaming and shaking him, tapping his cheeks and searching for some sort of a hint that there was still some life in him. But there was none.

It was then that the group of helpers finally showed up, led by Ikakku and Hisagi. At the scene that was revealed in front of them, they all stopped dead on their tracks. First to react was Unohanna…

* * *

'_Kenji Takeo, captain of the tenth division of Gotei 13, we are informing you with great compassionate that you are removed from you post as such because of no fulfillment of your duties, disrespectful treatment to your subordinates and physical harming of the selfsame. We are asking you to leave the office and the division immediately after your rehabilitation is complete …_' at that point Kenji gave up on reading, balled up the letter and angrily threw it into the bin next to his bed. He didn't even know for how long he had been in the fourth division and yet he received this _now_?! Pfeh!

He shook his head with annoyance.

Was this some sort of a very successful attempt to irritate him more??

Wasn't the fact that he lost from a mere _kid_ enough?

He growled slightly as he pulled the blanked up his bandaged chest.

'Where's the justice?' he murmured 'The kid wins, gets to survive… somehow… gets to stay a captain, gets the woman and what do I get? GAAH!'

* * *

Hitsugaya rubbed his eyebrow with his slender white fingers and sighed. First day of work. Sheesh, that simply sucked… At times like this he wished he had actually died right there and then after beating Kenji…

'Thank you for helping me…' Hitsugaya murmured as he glanced over his shoulder at Ikakku who was walking right behind him and was carrying a large cardboard box.

'Ah, not at all, Hitsugaya-taicho…' the bald guy replied as he peeked over the side of the box 'It soothes my conscience. Besides, you are in no condition to carry any heavy objects.'

Stopping dead on his track Toushiro glanced down at his body, hidden under the captain haori and the black robes. He had to agree on that one. He had so much bandages wrapped around his chest, back, arms, forehead, ribs and shoulder that he could open a factory without much trouble.

'Uh? Hisugaya-taicho?' Ikakku raised a brow, this time he being the one to look over his shoulder 'Are you coming? 'Cuz this thing's pretty heavy…'

'Oh, yes… Let's go. I want to see what that moron did to my division… It'll probably need tons of arrangement after being let to be led practically only by Matsumoto.' Hitsugaya murmured as they once again started to make their way towards the tenth division. It was a strange fact that he didn't think he'd miss the third division. Yes, it was true that Momo was a very responsible fukutaicho and did her work so he finally had some free time, unlike when he worked with Matsumoto, but she was so boring and so hopelessly quiet and taciturn when doing her job, he felt as if he was all alone in the office. And that eventually turned out to be quite annoying, even for a person who usually didn't mind solitude that much.

As they were passing through a yard a couple of voices and loud laughter reached Hitsugaya's ears and made him stop.

'…Greeeaaat, if it isn't that midget boy-genius…'

'So he left the fourth division? Hehe… I wonder what happened with him and that hot chick…'

'I've heard she recorded his love-confession. Ya think we can find it somewhere on the market?'

'Doubt it. And even if we can, that kid's humiliation must cost a fortune! Hehehe… Can you believe him? Falling in love with her? Pathetic…'

'Look at his height…'

'He looks like a mere child… How could he become a captain?'

'Pathetic, indeed.'

At that point Hitsugaya was already livid, his lips were pursed and his fists were clenched. Those damn rumors hadn't disappeared yet, huh? Alright then… In that case he was going to make them, starting with those annoying shinigami…

Hitsugaya turned around abruptly to face the buggers but instead his view was blocked by a pair of very familiar assets.

'Matsu-…' he begun but was cut of when she bend down and playfully put her finger on his lips.

'Nuh-huh, Toushiro! What did we discuss this morning, mmm?' she pouted. Hitsugaya sighed.

'_Rangiku_.' He corrected himself, a small blush tinting his pale cheeks 'What are you doing here? I told you to wait for me in the tenth division office…'

Rangiku stood up straight and thoughtfully chucked her chin. After a few seconds she finally nodded to herself.

'Ah, yes, you did say that.' she agreed, grinning sheepishly 'But I opted to neglect it.'

'I can see that.' Hitsugaya murmured, for a moment catching a glimpse of the stupid shinigami who had been talking behind his back. He realized with great pleasure they looked very, VERY puzzled. Of course, knowing Matsumoto, that was yet to change to worse… for them.

'However, I have a very, very good reason for that!' Rangiku pointed out.

'Yeah?' he folded his arms in front of his chest 'And what's that?'

Matsumoto's grin grew wider as she bent down again.

'I've missed you. And you owe me one for making me worry so damn much about you!' with that she captured his lips in a long loving kiss, that almost made the shinigami at the background faint. When she finally pulled away, she noted to herself that he looked very dizzy. Giggling, Matsumoto pinched his nose playfully.

'Don't you dare die on me anymore, you hear me!' she purred. Hitsugaya had to blink a couple of times before finally comprehending what she had said. A smile quickly formed on his lips as he pulled her into another kiss. More passionate than the first one.

'I won't leave you, my love. I promise.'

The End.

* * *

A/N: Whooo! I was just a teesy-weensy hair away from making this a tragedy! Be grateful oh, happy-ending lovers! And review.


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